Flying column
Encyclopedia
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms
Combined arms
Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different branches of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects...

. It is often an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....

unit, formed during the course of operations.

The term is usually, though not necessarily, applied to forces less than the strength of a brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

. As mobility is its raison d'être, a flying column is accompanied by the minimum of equipment. It generally uses suitable fast transport; historically, horses were used, with trucks and helicopters replacing them in modern times.

Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...

 kommando in 17th–20th century South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, may be regarded as form of flying column (unlike commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...

s in the more recent sense). The mobile columns employed against Boer forces, by British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 forces in the South African War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

 of 1899–1902, were usually of the strength of two battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

s of infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

, a battery of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, and a squadron of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

, almost exactly half that of a mixed brigade.

During the Anglo-Iraqi War
Anglo-Iraqi War
The Anglo-Iraqi War was the name of the British campaign against the rebel government of Rashid Ali in the Kingdom of Iraq during the Second World War. The war lasted from 2 May to 31 May 1941. The campaign resulted in the re-occupation of Iraq by British armed forces and the return to power of the...

 of 1941, British forces employed flying columns code-named Kingcol
Kingcol
-Creation and composition:Kingcol was created to allow a portion of Habforce to relieve RAF Habbaniya as soon as possible. The column was named after its commander, Brigadier J.J. Kingstone...

and Gocol
Gocol
Gocol was a flying column created by the British Army shortly after the Anglo-Iraqi War had ended.-Creation and composition:Gocol was a truck-borne flying column created in early June 1941 specifically to pursue and capture Dr. Fritz Grobba, the German Ambassador to the Kingdom of Iraq...

. Kingcol advanced into Iraq from Jordan and Palestine.

Flying columns have also been used in guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...

, notably the mobile armed units of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...

 during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...

 1919–21.

Flying columns are mentioned by Sun Tzu in his, 'Art of War' in such a fashion that it was not a new concept at the time of his writing. This dates to at least the middle 500's B.C.E, and possibly the late 700's B.C.E.

See also

  • Jock column
    Jock column
    During World War II, "Jock columns" were small combined arms groups of armoured cars, 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 by the British Army for a specific purpose during the latter stages of Operation Compass. Combe Force was formed to cut across the open desert of Cyrenaica and cut off the retreating Italian Army which was traveling along the coastal...

  • Durruti Column
    Durruti Column
    The Durruti Column was the largest anarchist column formed during the Spanish Civil War . During the first months of the war it has come to be the most recognized and popular military organisations fighting at the republican side...

  • Gocol
    Gocol
    Gocol was a flying column created by the British Army shortly after the Anglo-Iraqi War had ended.-Creation and composition:Gocol was a truck-borne flying column created in early June 1941 specifically to pursue and capture Dr. Fritz Grobba, the German Ambassador to the Kingdom of Iraq...

  • Kingcol
    Kingcol
    -Creation and composition:Kingcol was created to allow a portion of Habforce to relieve RAF Habbaniya as soon as possible. The column was named after its commander, Brigadier J.J. Kingstone...

  • Mercol
    Mercol
    Mercol was a flying column created by the British Army shortly after the Anglo-Iraqi War had ended.-Creation and composition:Mercol was a truck-borne flying column created in early June 1941 specifically with the task of rounding up irregular troops under Fawzi al-Qawuqji. In addition to Mercol,...

  • Long Range Desert Group
    Long Range Desert Group
    The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...

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