SIR BRYAN MAHON

Hokitika Guardian, 29 September 1930, Page 7

SIR BRYAN MAHON

RELIEF OF MAFEKING RECALLED RUGBY, September 24. General Sir Bryan Mahon’s distinguished career in the Army extended for over 46 years. His most famous exploit- was the relief of Mafeking in the South African War in 1900. He led a flying column from Kimberley, and while General Hunter engaged the Boers elsewhere he cut through the enemy lines and marched into the besieged town. During the Great War General Mahon had command of the Salonika Army, and was later Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. fßyra.ii Thomas Mahon was born at Belleville, Galway, Ireland, in April, 1862. Obtaining a commission in the Bth Hussars in 1883 ho was soon afterwards sent to India. Transferred to Egypt in 1896 to took part in the Dongola Expedition against the Dervishes, winning the D.S.O. He also served during the further advances into the Sudan,, including. th e capture of Kahtum, and gained his Brevet colonelcy, Jn the South African Wnr the chief task allotted to him wns the relief of Mafeking, which! had been besieged by the Boers for some months. This operation had to be carried out secretly by means of a dash with a light force. Word wns • conveyed to' General Baden-Powe.il, the Commander in Mafeking, that the attempt would b« made. H© sent a message back asking the strength of the force. No cipher had been arranged, and it was undesirable to send a runner with a message stating the facts openly. Colonel Mahan sent the following: “Our numbers are 1 Naval and Military Club multiplied by 10; our guns the number of sons in the’ Ward family, and our supplies the O.C. 9th Lancers.” General Baden-Powell, knowing that the club’s address was 94 Piccadilly, that there were six young Wards, and that the O.C. mentioned was named Little, interpreted the message easily. The dash was successful, the small , force ... charging through the' besiegers’ lines'and not only taking the Boers by surpilse, but leaving them with the fear that it was the advance guard of a larger body. For this service Colonel Mahon -got the, C.B. Returning to the Sudan, he was Military Governor of Korodofan from 1901 to 1904. Thence he • went back to India, and for some years commanded the Lucknow Division. In 1912 he was knighted (K.C:8.0.), On the outbreak of the- Great War he was given the command of the Irish Division. He. took part in the Dardanelles operations, and afterwards commanded the Salonika Army. But in 1916 he was recalled to- become Cominander-in-Chief ’ in Ireland, an appointment which, as he was an Irishman and had a record respected by both English and Irish, was regarded, in view of the need for tactful handling of the people after the suppression of the rebellion, as particularly appropriate. Retiring from the Army in 1921, General Mahon was awarded the K.C.B. next year and became a Senator of the Irish Free State, In the later stages of his career he was known affectionately throughout me Army as “the old Mahout.”]