The Defence of Duffer's Drift: A Lesson in the Fundamentals of Small Unit Tactics - Couverture souple

Swinton, Capt E. D.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1581606346 ISBN 13 : 9781581606348

Editeur : Paladin Press,U.S., 2008

Synopsis

In the 100 years since The Defence of Duffer’s Drift was first published, the face of modern warfare has changed dramatically. But what have not changed very much are the concepts of small unit tactics: Ground is held, buildings are searched, and individual enemy combatants are killed or captured by men with rifles. And those men are led by NCOs and junior officers. The Defence of Duffer’s Drift is a fictional account of a young, inexperienced British officer, who is tasked with holding a river crossing with 50 troops against a larger enemy force. His initial failures and eventual victory serve as an entertaining and instructive vehicle to convey the principles of small unit tactics. Because it deals with principles, this definitive work has endured to this day and is still on some of the required reading lists of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

"The Defence of Duffer’s Drift" is a valuable instruction in the art of close quarters combat. A favorite book for soldiers at the U.S. Army Infantry School, 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.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Paladin Press,U.S.
• Date d'édition: 2008
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1581606346
• ISBN 13: 9781581606348
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 76
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible