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Flying column

 
Flying Column

 
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A flying column, in military organization, is an independent corps of troops usually composed of all arms
Combined arms

Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects.Though the lower-echelon units of a combined arms team may be of homogeneous types, a balanced mixture of such units are combined into an effective higher-echelon unit, whether formally in a table of organi...
, to which a particular task is assigned. It is almost always composed in the course of operations, out of the troops immediately available.

Mobility being its raison d'ętre, a flying column is composed of picked men and horses accompanied with the barest minimum of baggage.






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Flyingcolumn Westcork Db668
A flying column, in military organization, is an independent corps of troops usually composed of all arms
Combined arms

Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects.Though the lower-echelon units of a combined arms team may be of homogeneous types, a balanced mixture of such units are combined into an effective higher-echelon unit, whether formally in a table of organi...
, to which a particular task is assigned. It is almost always composed in the course of operations, out of the troops immediately available.

Mobility being its raison d'ętre, a flying column is composed of picked men and horses accompanied with the barest minimum of baggage. The term is usually, though not necessarily, applied to forces under the strength of a brigade
Brigade

A brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army....
.

The mobile columns employed by the British forces in the South African War
Second Boer War

The Second Boer War , commonly referred to as The Boer War and also known as the South African War , the Anglo-Boer War and in Afrikaans as the Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog , was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902, between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Fre...
 of 1899–1902, were usually of the strength of two battalion
Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 500-1500 men usually consisting of between two and seven company and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel....
s of infantry
Infantry

Infantry are soldiers who are primarily trained for the role of fighting on foot. A soldier in the infantry is known as an infantryman. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, and place a greater emphasis on fitness, physical strength and aggression....
, a battery of artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
, and a squadron of cavalry
Cavalry

The Cavalry is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat, it represents the mobility and offensive power of the armed forces....
, almost exactly half that of a mixed brigade.

Another World War II campaign, the conquest of Iraq in 1941 by British-led forces, employed the flying column code-named Kingcol, advancing from Jordan and Palestine, combining with operations by Habforce.

Flying columns have also been used in guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is the Irregular warfare warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile Military tactics to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
, notably the mobile armed units of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army

The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who in April 1916 staged the Easter Rising....
 during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla warfare mounted against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army ....
 1919–21.

See also

  • Jock column
    Jock column

    During World War II, "Jock columns" were small combined arms groups of Armored car s, artillery, and motorised infantry, generally drawn from the 7th Armoured Division....
  • Combe Force
    Combe Force

    Combe Force, or Combeforce, was an ad hoc flying column formed for a brief period by the British Army to cut off the Italian Army's escape route during the early stages of the North African Campaign in World War II....
  • Durruti Column
    Durruti Column

    The Durruti Column was the most famous Column of anarchism in Spain fighters during the Spanish Civil War. It was led by Buenaventura Durruti from mid-1936 until his death on November 20 of that year....