Guerrilla warfare
The Defense of Duffer's Drift
Author: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Publisher:
ISBN: OSU:32435053943320
Category: Guerrilla warfare
Page: 80
View: 732
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 1492223530
Category:
Page: 58
View: 527
Ernest Dunlop Swinton is a military professional with experience in the Boer War who wrote this famous short book based on a series of thoughts he had on how an infantry unit with only 50 men could defend a river crossing. Through the perspective of a young Lieutenant, you are given the terrain features, the political situation, conflict with civilians and limits on your own military support. There is a brief history of the war with the "Dutch" and then your Lieutenant receives his assignment. With the use of maps, there are six scenarios of the Lieutenants approach to defending the crossing (drift). Each scenario is acted out and with each of the first five scenarios there are several lessons learned such as the effect of enfilading fire, the limitations of a simple trench, the use of the military crest versus being located on top of the hill, the effect the local sympathetic population may have on aiding guerrilla fighters, the effect of surprise, disguising your defense from view, proper posting of sentries and responsibilities, how to combat artillery, dealing with multiple directions of attack, using the terrain to advantage and on. As the Lieutenant in each scenario learns from his mistakes, he alters the outcome to his advantage but only incrementally. Only at the end and sixth scenario does he get it right but with realistic loss. The same map is introduced in each scenario with defense features matching the new defensive tactics. "The Defence of Duffer's Drift" is a fascinating book for all interested in basic infantry tactics, which has been used as a training manual for militaries worldwide. This is a very readable book that can be read in less than 2 hours time. Applicable to any war but this book would be interesting to read with an account of Rappahannock Station, which was a spearhead position held by Confederates in advance of Lee's line on November 7, 1863 where Meade's forces overwhelmed the defenders and took almost 3,000 prisoners. Duffer's Drift would be very applicable in that situation.
History
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Publisher: Merchant Books
ISBN: 1603861998
Category: History
Page: 72
View: 863
This book presents a fictional account of a young, inexperienced British officer who is ordered to hold a river crossing (Duffer's Drift) with 50 men against a larger Boer force. His failures and eventual success provide lessons learned for contemporary soldiers regarding the concepts of small group tactics. Originally published in Infantry Journal in April 1905.The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 9781428916685
Category:
Page:
View: 356
History
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 1450585426
Category: History
Page: 58
View: 199
"The Defence of Duffer's Drift" was first published in 1907, as an essay in small unit tactics for junior leaders in the British Army. Its author, Ernest Dunlop Swinton, based the essay on his experiences in the Boer war in South Africa. The book has become a classic, familiar to generations of British and American soldiers from their professional military education. The premise for Swinton's essay is "The Defence of Duffer's Drift" by Lieutenant Backsight Forethought and his fifty-man platoon. The Drift is a difficult piece of ground and Forethought expects an attack in the near future. In a series of dreams, Forethought tries repeatedly to defend the Drift, only to make fatal mistakes. However, with each new dream, Forethought has the opportunity to learn from his errors in the previous dream. The result is an insightful exploration of small unit tactics and leadership that is as useful today as it was when first written. Swinton's prose is simple and accessible. The lessons of each defense are summed up at the conclusion of each chapter. "The Defence of Duffer's Drift" is very highly recommended to the junior leader, whether officer or NCO, as an amusing but realistic lesson in tactics.
Guerrilla warfare
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Publisher:
ISBN: OCLC:223620248
Category: Guerrilla warfare
Page: 39
View: 757
History
The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa
Author: Michael L. Burgoyne
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226080949
Category: History
Page: 178
View: 374
Following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 the U.S. military found itself in a battle with a lethal and adaptive insurgency, where the divisions between enemy and ally were ambiguous at best, and working with the local population was essential for day-to-day survival. From the lessons they learned during multiple tours of duty in Iraq, two American veterans have penned The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa, an instructional parable of counterinsurgency that addresses the myriad of difficulties associated with war in the postmodern era. In this tactical primer based on the military classic The Defence of Duffer’s Drift, a young officer deployed for the first time in Iraq receives ground-level lessons about urban combat, communications technology, and high-powered weaponry in an environment where policy meets reality. Over the course of six dreams, the inexperienced soldier fights the same battle again and again, learning each time—the hard way—which false assumptions and misconceptions he needs to discard in order to help his men avoid being killed or captured. As the protagonist struggles with his missions and grapples with the consequences of his mistakes, he develops a keen understanding of counterinsurgency fundamentals and the potential pitfalls of working with the native population. Accompanied here by the original novella that inspired it, The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa offers an invaluable resource for cadets and junior military leaders seeking to master counterinsurgency warfare—as well as general readers seeking a deeper understanding of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just as its predecessor has been a hallmark of military instruction, The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa will draw the road map for counterinsurgency in the postmodern world. Visit a website for the book here: www.defenseofJAD.com
Guerrilla warfare
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Publisher:
ISBN: OCLC:220670760
Category: Guerrilla warfare
Page: 39
View: 526
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: E. D. Swinton
Publisher:
ISBN: 9354782183
Category:
Page: 54
View: 959
Juvenile Fiction
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Dunlop Ernest Swinton
Publisher:
ISBN: 1437837697
Category: Juvenile Fiction
Page: 56
View: 930
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Sir Ernest D. Swinton
Publisher: Dale Street Book Company
ISBN: 0978879244
Category:
Page: 52
View: 858
A favorite of the United States Army Infantry School, "The Defence of Duffer's Drift" is a valuable instruction in the art of close quarters combat. One veteran recently observed that the war in Afghanistan might have fared better if commanders had not ignored the basic lessons taught in "Duffer's Drift." Originally published in 1904 by Major General Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton, when he was still a captain, it remains relevant even in today's battlefields. The fictional main character is Lieutenant N. Backsight Forethought, commander of a 50-man reinforced platoon during a fictional encounter in the Boer War. BF, as he is known to his friends, is ordered to hold at all costs a key piece of ground known as Duffer's Drift. This is BFs big chance to prove himself on the battlefield and he is ready for the glory, or so he thinks. In a series of six scenarios he calls dreams, BF tries to solve tactical issues facing a young commander and his men assigned to a remote location with minimum supplies and maximum exposure to the enemy. In the first dream BF makes basic tactical errors that he summarizes in lessons learned at the end of the dream. In the second dream, he incorporates the lessons learned from the first dream and builds on them to improve his tactical effectiveness. Still, he makes new errors based on new challenges and at the end of the second dream, converts them as well into lessons learned. This continues until the sixth dream when he finally succeeds, drawing on all the lessons learned in the previous five dreams. General Swinton's contribution to the revolution in military affairs of the 20th century is illustrated in this book and its tutelage in the art of tactical warfare. It presages Swinton's ultimate contribution to tank warfare, which would come to dominate the battlefields of World War II. These lessons remain as relevant today as they were one hundred years ago and as long as our military keeps deploying to remote and austere regions in defense of our country.
Satire, English (Kcal Only)
The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Author: Sir Ernest Swinton
Publisher:
ISBN: OCLC:896647411
Category: Satire, English (Kcal Only)
Page: 62
View: 378
