Number 238
Marlborough
& the War of
Spanish Succession
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2 #238
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WESTERN DESERT
FORCE
SIEGE
4 #238
contents
Number 238
September 2006
F E AT U R E S
38 works in progress
54 Civil War Submarine Operations
Everything you didn’t know about the how and why of
attack subs in the 1860s.
by Carl Otis Schuster
Rules
It was the age of kings and dynasties. Europe was domi- replaced by Marshal Marsin at the end of the year. The French
nated in the west by the French Bourbons and in the east by were now masters of the middle Rhine crossings. They could
Austrian Habsburgs. Germany was divided into dozens of threaten Austria and its German allies from Bavaria.
petty monarchies, duchies, and protectorates such as Bavaria, As 1704 began, Marlborough was confronted by Villars
Baden, Brandenburg, Brunswick, Hanover, the Palatinate and at Antwerp with 10,000 men, Tallard with 30,000 men was at
Württemberg. Prussia was on the northeastern fringe. In Paris, Strasburg and Kehl, while the Elector of Bavaria and Marsin
Louis XIV plotted to dominate the continent; in Vienna, Em- had 45,000 men at Ulm. Unless action was taken, Vienna it-
peror Leopold maintained his realm against the Bourbons in self might fall to the French, freeing the Bourbons to turn their
the west and Ottoman incursions in the east. In London, Queen attention toward the Low Countries, threatening the Channel
Anne had just taken the throne. ports central to Britain’s defense.
When the childless King Charles II of Spain died in 1700,
he left a vacant throne, to which the primary claimant was
Marlborough’s March to the Danube:
Phillip of Anjou, grandson of Louis II of France. Of course, a May-June 1704
Bourbon on the Spanish throne was unacceptable to Habsburg One of Marlborough’s most astonishing feats was his march
Austria and France’s perpetual rival, Britain. When Britain de- from the Netherlands to the Danube. In three weeks, the Duke
clared war on France on 15 May 1702, France and Spain were moved his army over 250 miles and put it in position to aid
aligned against the Grand Alliance: Britain, the United Prov- his German and Austrian allies or to strike at France. For most
inces, Austria, and most of the German states. of the march, Marlborough’s enemies did not know what he
Marlborough’s military experience made him the obvious intended. The march began on 20 May. Marlborough rapidly
choice to defend British interests on the continent. A real strug- moved south, reaching Bonn on the 23rd and Coblenz on the
gle was expected. In the decades since the Treaty of Westphalia 25th, where he crossed over to the east bank, keeping the Rhine
(1648), French armies and generals had dominated Europe. The between him and Tallard. On 7 June, Marlborough crossed the
roster of victorious French generals included great captains River Neckar at the town of Ladensburg. From there he moved
such as Prince Louis Conde, Marshal Nicholas Catinat, Duc south, making as if he were going march on Phillipsburg. In-
Francois Luxembourg, and Viscount Henri Turenne. Under stead Marlborough re-crossed the Neckar and on June 10th
Louis XIV, French power expanded into the Low Countries, to marched into Mondelsheim, where he was joined by Eugene
the Rhine, and across northern Italy. and Louis of Baden. Their combined forces amounted to 40,000
men.
The Strategic Situation
On 27 June, the Allied army reached the Danube town of
As operations commenced in 1703, the French held the up-
Gingen. There it was decided Marlborough and Louis would
per hand, not only in Italy, as Eugene left the area to join allied
move up the Danube, while Eugene would remain in the Gin-
forces in south Germany, but along the Danube as well. There
gen area with 30,000 men to prevent Villeroi and Tallard from
Louis Hector de Villars marched his French army down the riv-
marching on Marlborough’s rear. On 2 July, Marlborough
er, linked up with the Elector of Bavaria’s forces and steadily
fought the action at the Schellenberg, putting the Allied army in
drove Louis, Prince of Baden, in front of him as he advanced
position for its greatest victory—Blenheim.
toward Vienna. Villars, despite his successful operations, was
8 #238
strategy & tactics 9
and third lines to press home the main assault, while
The Siege of Lille: 1708 the fourth line was composed of 11 infantry battalions
In a massive operation that involved more than 200,000 men and as a reserve. To the left, Marlborough deployed a pow-
took four months to conclude, Marlborough and Eugene invested the
erful force under Lord John Cutts and tasked him with
French stronghold of Lille. Known as “Vauban’s masterpiece,” the for-
tress-city was the linchpin of France’s frontier defenses, defended by
containing the French forces in Blenheim.
Marshall Boufflers’ 16,000 man garrison. In mid-August 1708, Marlbor- Beginning at 8:30 a.m., both sides began pounding
ough and Eugene set up lines of circumvallation and slowly dug trenches one another with artillery fire. As Eugene moved his
closer and closer to the walls. troops forward, Cutts forced his way across the Ne-
In late August, Burgundy and Vendome moved to relieve the French bel and took a blocking position in front of Blenheim,
garrison, but Marlborough brilliantly maneuvered to keep a strong force where his men endured heavy sniping and cannon fire.
between their army and Lille. Even after the city proper was taken on 23 At about 12:30 p.m., word arrived Eugene had attacked
October, Boufflers retreated to the citadel and continued his defiance. and pinned down the Bavarian forces east of Ober-
French attempts to interdict Allied communications, and even a coun-
glau. Marlborough sprang into action. To cover his
termove against Brussels, failed to divert Marlborough. Boufflers finally
capitulated on 10 December 1708. Over 15,000 Allied casualties were
crossing of the Nebel, he ordered Cutts to send one of
sustained. Keeping with the spirit of the Age of Reason, Marlborough his brigades against Blenheim. So Gen. Rowe person-
and Eugene allowed Boufflers to dictate his own surrender terms. ally led his brigade into devastating French fire. Rowe
and a third of his men fell, but his brigade stubbornly
pressed ahead. French cavalry around Blenheim coun-
terattacked, but were driven back. Another effort by
the French horse was stopped by British cavalry north
of the village.
10 #238
Then a crisis developed in the Allied
center. The Prince of Holstein-Beck sent
10 infantry battalions in a frontal assault on
Oberglau, which was repulsed with heavy
losses, leaving Marlborough’s center-right
wide open. Marsin charged in with 32 cav-
alry squadrons. Marlborough reacted by or-
dering Eugene to send Fugger’s cuirassiers
to the area and counterattack. As Marsin’s
men attained the south bank of the Nebel,
Fugger cut into their left flank and pushed
them off the river. Holstein-Beck reformed
his infantry and drove the French infantry
back into Oberglau. By 3 p.m. most of the
Franco-Bavarian infantry was holed up in
their village bastions or pinned down by
Eugene. It was time to finish the job.
Marlborough brought his entire center
across the Nebel: 90 squadrons of cavalry
and 23 battalions of infantry. He formed
them into four lines, two of cavalry up front,
two of infantry in the rear. At 4:30 p.m.
Marlborough attacked with his main body.
Several times French volley fire threw back
Marlborough’s horse. Marlborough brought
up his guns and, at close range, they poured
grapeshot into the ranks of the French in-
fantry. This time, under cover of the guns,
Marlborough’s cavalry slammed into the
French cavalry and scattered them, the
French infantry yielding as well.
Believing all to be lost, Marsin and the
Elector withdrew, leaving Tallard to fend
for himself in Blenheim. After being heav-
ily reinforced, Cutts finally forced Tallard
to surrender. Thus ended the battle of Blen-
heim. In all, the allies suffered 4,500 dead and 7,500
wounded, 2,000 of them British. In killed, wounded, Ramillies: 23 May 1706
and missing, the French lost 15,000 men and another While Marlborough would have preferred to relieve
15,000 were taken prisoner. The Allies took 200 flags, pressure on Austria by defeating the French in north It-
50 guns, and the whole baggage train. Notes Phillip J. aly, which was always a campaigning ground, the year
Haythornthwaite: “For the first time in forty years a 1706 once again saw him in Flanders. In May 1706,
major French army had been routed, destroying their Duc Villeroi marched into that area with an army of
reputation of invincibility; Vienna was saved, and 62,000 men and 130 guns. Marlborough had with him
Marlborough’s reputation was assured.” in Maastricht county 60,000 British and Dutch troops
Marlborough triumphed because he split the en- and 130 guns. Not wanting to cede the initiative to Vil-
emy center, compelling the Franco-Bavarian army to leroi, Marlborough broke camp and sought him out.
withdraw or risk being destroyed piecemeal. That was Their vanguards encountered one another in the early
possible only because Eugene vigorously attacked the morning hours of 23 May and both sides deployed for
Franco-Bavarian left, convincing Tallard he was fac- battle.
ing the main thrust. Credit must also be given to Cutts, Facing east and taking the high ground, Villeroi
who endured and then attacked brilliantly on the right. assumed a defensive posture around the town of Ra-
That allowed Marlborough to strike the center. Even millies. He anchored his right flank on the village of
though the going was bloody, Marlborough proved Taviers and his left at the town of Autre-Egtise. Vil-
heedless of his own casualties. While the brunt of the leroi turned Ramillies into a bastion. He deployed his
fighting was born by the infantry, the final blow was cavalry between Taviers and Ramillies and his infan-
delivered by cavalry. try between Ramillies and Autre-Egtise. He placed his
12 #238
cavalry reserve behind his line troops on the extreme Oudenarde: 11 July 1708
right flank. Marlborough took advantage of Villeroi’s During the late spring of 1708, a surprise French
deployment, arraying his forces convexly, so that he offensive into Flanders caught Marlborough off guard.
occupied a central position. This allowed him to eas- Nominally under the Duke of Burgundy, but in actual-
ily transfer forces from one sector to another. Marl- ity commanded by Duc Vendome, the French Army
borough placed his cavalry opposite Villeroi’s, his numbered 100,000 men. When the French crossed the
Dutch infantry in the center, opposite and overlapping border, Marlborough was near Brussels with a force of
Ramillies, and his British troops on his right. Marl- 65,000 British, Dutch, Danish, Hanoverian and Prus-
borough determined the French right (his own left) to sian troops, and 113 guns. On hearing of the invasion,
be the strongest position and therefore the key to the and suspecting the loyalty of the garrison at Antwerp,
battle. There is where Marlborough resolved to make Marlborough wasted no time, broke camp and placed
his main attack. his army between Vendome and Antwerp. The French
Around noon, the battle began with an artillery bar- marched deeper into Flanders, arriving a few miles
rage. Marlborough’s first move was to send in his Brit- east of Marlborough’s position at Hal. Little happened
ish troops against Autre-Egtise, where began a furious because the Duke of Burgundy was overly cautious,
musketry exchange, but that push was just a feint. As and Marlborough was waiting for Eugene, who was
Villeroi sent reserve infantry battalions to shore up his hundreds of miles away having recently defeated the
left flank, Marlborough used the smoke and confusion French at Turin.
to mask the movement of his reserves in support of For once, Marlborough did not hold the initiative.
his cavalry opposite Taviers. Marlborough then sent With Vendome threatening communications along the
a Dutch force against Taviers and 12 more Dutch bat- Scheldt near Oudenarde, Marlborough had no choice
talions against Ramillies. but to seek battle. The French probably could have
The Dutch took Taviers, but concentrated attacks taken Oudenarde by storm, but Burgundy was unsure
by French household cavalry (Maison du Roi’) opened about attacking. Instead, the French besieged the for-
a gap. The French heavy horse drove deep into Marl- tress. That gave Marlborough precious time. Eugene
borough’s flank and were soon threatening the Dutch rode ahead of his army, still several days away from
assault on Ramillies. Marlborough, and joined the Duke outside Brussels.
Once again, Marlborough saved the day. He per- Another great march was in order. Marlborough sent
sonally led a counterattack by 17 squadrons against a strong detachment of infantry and cavalry under
the Maison du Roi’s flank and staved off their at- William Cadogan ahead of his main body. Cadogan’s
tack. With the French drive in the center halted, Al- force scouted ahead, determined the army’s path, and
lied troops worked around the Maison du Roi’s flanks. bridged the River Dender at Lessines, which Marlbor-
Marlborough then pressed home his infantry attacks ough crossed 11 July. Marlborough had covered 60
and seized the high ground around Ramillies. But Vil- miles in 48 hours and was in position to bridge the
leroi was not yet ready to concede defeat, and tried to Scheldt, cross it, and do battle with Vendome outside
form a new line on Ramillies and Autre-Egtise. Marl- of Oudenarde.
borough gave the French no respite, taking Ramillies,
securing his left flank for a further assault. From there,
Marlborough ordered a general advance, which swept
into Autre-Egtise. With no bastions left to hold, the
French army disintegrated, losing 7,000 killed and
wounded and 6,000 prisoners. Marlborough’s casual-
ties amounted to 1,000 dead and 3,000 wounded.
Marlborough’s formula worked even better at Ra-
millies because Villeroi’s deployment allowed the
allies to occupy a central position. As a result, Marl-
borough could more easily transfer reserves from one
front to another. Careful but stalwart action was neces-
sary from Eugene, who never wavered on the Allied
right. Next, the cavalry blunted a French counterat-
tack, preparing the way for Marlborough’s final move.
Once again the enemy was drawn away from the cen-
ter; Marlborough’s infantry forced an opening, and the
cavalry tore into the breach.
16 #238
Lord Orkney’s 15 battalions pressed ahead unsup- combination of pinning attacks and cavalry charges
ported and with their right flank dangerously exposed. were standard tactics in the British and French Armies.
Meanwhile the Prince of Orange engaged in a fero- Marlborough was flexible on the battlefield. He didn’t
cious struggle on the right and was stopped by Bouf- insist the infantry always clear the way for the cavalry;
flers. Marlborough stabilized the flank by sending his sometimes the horse did so for the foot. Nor were his
Hanoverian battalions into the fight. attacks thrown into chaos by enemy counterattacks. He
At the same time, Villars was determined to take dealt with the problem and moved on. If a flank was
the offensive on his left, believing the key to the battle not secured right away, Marlborough chipped away at
lay there. Villars reinforced his left at the expense of the enemy until it was.
the center and pushed hard against Eugene’s forces. It must be remembered a good deal of the credit
Marlborough and Eugene perceived Villars’s weak- for Marlborough’s victories goes to Prince Eugene.
ened center and acted. Eugene fought hard to hold the It’s also a credit to Marlborough that he knew how to
French and draw in even more troops. work alongside a great captain such as the Prince. Still,
Meanwhile, Marlborough sent forward Orkney’s Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet are
battalions and, after a fierce struggle, seized the battles that belong to the Duke. His formula, his flex-
center works. With the way open, Marlborough’s re- ibility, and his iron will make Marlborough one of the
maining cavalry charged into the breach and wrought greatest general of the age of battles.
havoc in the enemy rear. But the cavalry was eventu-
ally repulsed when Boufflers counterattacked from the
French right. Boufflers was un turn stopped dead in his
tracks when he ran afoul of Orkney’s battalions. Bouf-
flers reformed and hit Orkney again and again until
Marlborough brought up his reserve horse and finally
drove off the exhausted French. That last move ended
the battle, the bloodiest fight of Marlborough’s career.
The Allies took 20,000 casualties, the French 14,000.
Little happened in the aftermath of the battle.
French forces withdrew behind their fortifications,
leaving Marlborough and Eugene to besiege Mons.
Operations began on 25 September, and by 9 October
the Allies took Mons’s outworks. Mons proper capitu-
lated on 26 October, but the casualties sustained in the
campaign made it impossible to advance farther.
Malplaquet was the last of Marlborough’s great
battles. It was a bloody holocaust that required the use
of every resource at hand. After the initial setbacks,
Eugene struck the right and maintained his left through
combined infantry and cavalry counterattacks. Once
more Marlborough pinned the French right and then
pierced the center with infantry and cavalry. British
musketry stopped Boufflers from breaking Marlbor-
References
ough’s string of victories. Brodie, Bernard and Fawn F. From Crossbow to H Bomb. (Bloomington: Indiana
Endgame University Press, 1973)
Chandler, David. Atlas of Military Strategy: The Art, Theory and Practice of War
The events of the campaigns of 1710 and 1711 1618-1878. (London: Arms & Armour Press, 2000)
are minor in comparison to Marlborough’s previous Chandler, David. The Art of War in the Age of Marlborough. (Kent: Spellmount
deeds. During that time, Marlborough fell out of fa- Ltd, 1997)
vor with the queen and the Tory politicians who had Churchill, Winston. Marlborough, His Life and Times. (New York: Charles
gained power in the Parliamentary elections. The Scribner’s Sons, 1968)
Duke was cast aside at the end of 1711, and remained Dodge, Theodore Ayrault. Gustavus Adolphus. (New York: Da Capo, 1998)
embittered about his dismissal until the end of his life Fuller, JFC. A Military History of the Western World, Vol. II. (New York: Da
Capo, 1955)
in June 1722. In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht concluded
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. Invincible Generals. (New York: Da Capo, 1994)
the War of the Spanish Succession and maintained the
Israel, Jonathan I. The Dutch Republic: Its Ride, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806.
balance of power against France. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1998)
Not until Napoleon and Wellington would there Weigley, Russel F. The Age of Battles. (Bloomington &Indianapolis, Indiana
again be a general of the caliber of the Duke of Marl- University Press, 1991)
borough. By the Napoleonic Wars, Marlborough’s
strategy & tactics 17
Der Weltkrieg Series
The Western Front: ITALIAN FRONT: 1915-1918
This wargame contains five separate scenarios, and can be linked
1914-1918 with East Front (and later West Front) games of the series for
The Western Front: 1914-1918, contains duration games.
six scenarios, each covering a major WWI
campaign fought in France or Belgium.
May 1915: 1st Isonzo
It can also be played as a start-to-finish The first battles along the Isonzo are a futile foreshadowing
simulation of the entire western front, or of what is to come.
linked with other games in the series into a May 1916: Strafexpedition
grand-campaign covering all the European The Chief of Staff of the Austro Hungarian army, Conrad von
fronts. The scenarios are: “August 1914: Hotzendorff, feels the time is right to strike a blow against Italy.
The Schlieffen Plan;” “May 1915: Ypres;” He ignores the advice of German Chief of staff von Falkenhayn,
“February 1916: Verdun;” “July 1916: The Somme;” “April 1917: who sees the main threat coming from the Russian front.
Nivelle’s Offensive;” “March 1918: The Kaiser’s Battle.”
The Italians in the southern Tyrol have neglected their rear area
Components: one 22” x 34” mapsheet, 1,680 die-cut counters, standard and
scenario books, corps displays, and player aid cards.
defenses. That, and the fury of the Austro-Hungarian attack, puts
$69. 95 the Italian army in peril. Cadorna, its commanding general, rushes
The Schlieffen Plan reinforcements to the front. It is a dicey affair, but the Italian lines
This game covers the fluid warfare of the western front from 1 August hold; the threat along the Isonzo is checked.
to 15 November 1914. You assume the role of commander of either the May 1917: 10th Isonzo
German or Allied armies. The forces available to you are the same as those In endless offensives, valiant Italian infantry go over the top
commanded by the historic participants, but it is up to you to make your and into the maelstrom of the Isonzo. Each battle differs from the
own strategic decisions and execute your own plans as you see fit. last only by its increasing intensity and skyrocketing casualty list.
Components: one 22 x 34 inch mapsheet, a rule book and player aid cards, 560 In the end, both armies are exhausted. The Italians have become
die-cut counters and one die. weary of the war, but the Austrians believe one more effort on the
$39.95 Isonzo can break through.
Tannenberg & Galicia October 1917: Caporreto
This is a division/brigade level WW1 game that covers the campaign in When the Central Powers strike, they break through the Italian
East Prussia and southern Poland in 1914. You assume the role of the lines along the headwaters of the Isonzo. German and Austrian units
commander of either the German or Allied armies. The forces available pour through the mountain passes and into the Italian rear areas.
to you are the same ones commanded by Caporreto is an overwhelming victory for Germany and Austria;
the historic participants. but Italy is not fully defeated, and her citizens rally.
Components: 560 counters, two 22x 34” map- June 1918: Albrecht & Radetzky
sheets, player aid cards, standard and scenario Conrad’s attacks across the Piave are initially successful, but
rule books.
his divisions then bog down. The Austrians are unable to push their
$39.95 bridgeheads far enough forward to keep their pontoon bridges out
of range of Italian artillery. Unable to reinforce their spearheads
Serbia & Romania or maintain viable supply lines, the Austro-Hungarian armies fall
Covers the World War I campaigns in back, awaiting the inevitable Italian counterattack.
Serbia and Romania with links between Components: one 22” x 34” mapsheet, 560 die-cut counters, standard and
the two campaigns as well as to the previ- scenario books, player aid cards.
ous volumes. $39. 95
Components: two 22x 34” mapsheets, one
11x17” mapsheet, 560 die-cut counters, standard
and scenario rule books, player aid cards.
$39.95
Don’t forget to pledge for the next two games:
Grand Campaign and Middle East Campaigns.
Information on the Pledge page on the Decision Games
website.
18 #238
Relive the glory and
fight the campaigns of Marlborough.
Marlborough: War of the Spanish Succession (“Marby,” forces opposing France, led by England and Austria and
for short), is a wargame of intermediate-to-high complexity, known as the Grand Alliance. Each player has a variety of
designed by Joseph Miranda, simulating that critical conflict military, diplomatic and economic instruments with which
of the early 18th century. The dynastic struggle began when he can attempt to win the game by controlling states and
France’s Louis XIV attempted to place his grandson, Philip economic centers.
IV, on the throne of Spain. The other major powers saw that The game includes several scenarios. Shorter scenarios
as a threat, and so supported their own candidate, Charles represent critical parts of the war, while the “Grand Design”
III. That in turn began over a decade of fighting that grew scenario covers the entire war. Each game turn represents
into a general struggle for domination over all of western one year; each hex scales to 50 miles. Each army represents
Europe 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers and support personnel, camp fol-
Marby is a two player game. One controls the forces of lowers, etc. A leader represents that person plus his guards,
France and its allies, known as the Bourbon coalition, af- entourage, lackeys, wine cellars, etc. A fleet represents 60
ter the ruling house of France. The other player controls the warships and an indeterminate number of transports.
1530
With Oberglauheim and Blenheim unable to intervene,
Marlborough thrusts his first line infantry and second line
cavalry across the Nebel toward Tallard’s weakened center.
Determined infantry and artillery fire from Blenheim ham-
pers the steady Allied advance, but Bothmer, Viller, and one
squadron from Bülow peel off to deal with it.
Eugène attempts a second general assault, but is again
driven back with his cavalry refusing further action.
31. Bayreuth’s Brigade (Feldmarshall-leutnant, the Prince 2/ (six fusilier companies) from Regiment of Foot Prince
of Bayreuth) (ten squadrons) (800) George (Carl Rudolph von Württemberg) (Denmark/Austria
Auffess’ Dragoons (Franconia) 5 squadrons (400) (Not com- auxiliary) one battalion (704)
mitted) 35. 2nd Line (Infantry): Rebsdorff’s Brigade (Brig-Gen. Rebs-
Bayreuth’s Cuirassiers (Bayreuth) (Franconia) 5 squadrons dorff) (three battalions) (2,182)
(400) (Not committed) 1/Fynske Regiment of Foot (Brig-Gen. Schonenfeldt) (Den-
(Feldzeugmeister, Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau) mark/England and UP auxiliary) one battalion (860)
(eleven battalions) (4,400) 2/Sjællandske Regiment of Foot (Denmark/England and UP
32. 1st Line (Infantry): Finck’s Brigade (Generalmajor Al- auxiliary) one battalion (620)
brecht Conrad Graf Finck v. Finkenstein) (six squad- Regiment of Foot Christian Ulrich I, Herzog von Württemberg-
rons) (2,400) Öels (Col. Bonart) (Denmark/England and UP auxiliary)
“Grenadier Garde” (Kurprinz Friedrich Wilhelm I) (Prus- one battalion (702 in 10 company)
sian) two battalions (800) Infantry battalion (Allied)
Margraf Ludwig’s Infantry Regi- • United Provinces: 10-12 musketeer companies
ment (Christian Ludwig, Margraf von • Austria: 16 musketeer + 1 grenadier company (can form
Brandenburg) (Prussia) two battalions (800) into 4 tactical battalions of 4 company each + grenadier detach-
Anhalt-Dessau Infantry Regiment (Leopold von Anhalt- ment)
Dessau) (Prussia) two battalions (800) • Prussia: 5 musketeer + 1 grenadier company
33. 2nd Line (Infantry): Canitz’s Brigade (Generalmajor • Swiss: 4 musketeer companies
Christoph Albrecht v. Canitz) (five battalions) (2,000) • Imperial (Austrian): 6 musketeer companies + 1 grenadier
Margraf Phillip’s Infantry Regiment (Mar- company
graf Phillip Wilhelm von Brandenburg • English battalion: 12 musketeer + 1 grenadier company
Schwedt) (Prussia) two battalions (800)
Leibgarde (Col. Carl Philipp Freiherr von Wylich zu Lot-
tum) (Prussia) one battalion (400) “Platoon fire”- 1/3 of battalion fires a steady stream at a time
(suited for fire and movement)
Canitz’s Infantry Regiment (Generalmajor Christoph Albre-
cht von Canitz) (Prussia) two battalions (800) Anglo-Dutch- 3 ranks of 18 platoons in 3 staggered “firings”
with 1/3 of the battalion firing at a time (3 pounders often at
(Lt-Gen. Scholten) (7 battalions) (5,077) each flank)
34. 1st Line (Infantry): Bielke’s Brigade (Brig-Gen. Bielke) Austria- 4-5 ranks deep resulting in a smaller frontage
(Denmark/Austria auxiliary) (four battalions) (2,895)
1/ (one grenadier and six fusilier companies) from Regiment
of Foot Prince George (Carl Rudolph von Württemberg) Cavalry squadron
(Denmark/Austria auxiliary) one battalion (824) • United Provinces: 3 companies
2/ (six musketeer companies) from Regiment of Foot Prince • English: Sword charge at a fast trot (loss of control at gallop)
Carl (Lt-Gen. Scholten) (Denmark/Austria auxiliary) in close, two-rank formation followed by pistols for pursuit
one battalion (627) • Imperial: 3 companies
Regiment Dansk Den Kongelige Livgarde til fods (Den-
mark/Austria auxiliary) one battalion (740)
26 #238
The Army of the Elector of Bavaria Prince Maximillian 26. Montmain’s Brigade
II Emmanuel Wittelsbach, Elector of Bavaria & Mar- Régiment de Condé two squadrons (240)
shal Marsin (Second in command)
Régiment de Montmain two squadrons (240)
(Lt-Gen., the Marquis du Bourg) (twenty squadrons)
Régiment de Bourck (Ireland) two squadrons (240)
(2,400) (Part of Marsin’s Army, but under Tallard’s
command) 27. Vivans’ Brigade
1st Line (Cavalry): Régiment de Abusson two squadrons (240)
17. Massenbach’s Brigade Régiment de Vivans two squadrons (240)
Régiment de Royal three squadrons (360) Régiment de Fourquevaux two squadrons (240)
Régiment de La Ferronnaye two squadrons (240) 2nd Line (Cavalry): (Lt-Gen, the Marquis de Legall) (13
squadrons) (1,560)
Régiment de Levy two squadrons (240)
28. Barentin’s Brigade
18. Prince Charles de Lorraine’s Brigade
Régiment de Barentin two squadrons (240)
Régiment de Prince Charles de Lorraine (Prince Charles de
Lorraine) two squadrons (240) Régiment de la Billarderie two squadrons (240)
Régiment de Choiseul two squadrons (240) Régiment de Bissy two squadrons (240)
2nd Line (Cavalry): 29. Vigiers Brigade (l’Isle du Vigier)
19. d’Anlezy’s Brigade Régiment de Royal Piédmont three squadrons (360)
Régiment d’Anlezy two squadrons (240) Régiment du Vigier two squadrons (240)
Régiment de Livry two squadrons (240) Régiment de Merinville two squadrons (240)
Régiment de Heudincourt two squadrons (240) Bavarian Horse (27 squadrons) (3,240)
Régiment de Dauphin Étranger three squadrons (360) 30. 1st Line (Cavalry): von Weickel’s Brigade (Feldmarshall-
leutnant von Weickel)
(Lt-Gen., the Marquis de Blainville) (12 battalions)
(11,000) d’Arco’s Cuirassiers (Johann Baptist, Count d’Arco) six
squadrons (720)
In Oberglauheim: (Maréchal de Camp Dorrington) (eight
battalions) (4,000) Weickel’s Cuirassiers (von Weickel) four squadrons (480)
20. Blingy’s Brigade (Marquis de Bligny) Garde Karabinere one squadron (120)
Régiment de Champagne three battalions (1,500) Grenadiers à Cheval (Horse Grenadiers) one squadron (120)
1/Saintonge one battalion (500) Locatelli’s Hussars (Leib Company) one squadron (120)
21. Nangis’ Brigade (Marquis de Nangis) 31. 2nd Line (Cavalry): von Wolframsdorff’s Brigade (Gener-
almajor von Wolframsdorff)
Bourbonnais two battalions (1,000)
Törring-Seefeld’s Dragoons two squadrons (240)
1/Foix one battalion (500)
von Wolframsdorff’s Cuirassiers (Generalmajor von Wolframs-
1/Agénois one battalion (500)
dorff) six squadrons (720)
(Lt-Gen., The Marquis de Rosel)
de Costa’s Cuirassiers six squadrons (720)
Oberglauheim support- right/rear (nine battalions)
Lutzingenheim (Generalmajor, the Marquis de Maffei) (nine
(4,500)
battalions) (4,500)
22. Buzançois’s Brigade (Marquis de Buzançois)
32. de Maffei’s Brigade
Régiment de la Reine three battalions (1,500)
Régiment de Maffei one battalion (500)
23. Clare’s Brigade (Viscount Clare)
Kurprinz Regiment one battalion of seven companies (500)
Dorrington’s Regiment (Ireland) one battalion (500)
Leibgarde Fusiliers Regiment two battalions (1,000)
Clare’s Regiment (Ireland) one battalion (500)
Leibgarde Grenadiers Regiment one battalion (500)
Lee’s Regiment (Ireland) one battalion (500)
Régiment d’Ocfort one battalion (500)
24. Coëtquen’s Brigade
33. Mercy’s Brigade (Generalmajor, the Marquis de Mercy)
Régiment de Coëtquen two battalions (1,000)
Régiment de Mercy two battalions (1,000)
1/Chartres one battalion (500)
Régiment de Tattenbach one battalion of 7 company (500)
25. Oberglauheim support- left (Prince d’Isenghien) (five
(Lt-Gen., the Comte de Dreux) (13 squadrons) (1,560)
battalions) (2,500)
34. Fontbeausard’s Dragoon Brigade
1/Poitou one battalion (500)
Régiment de Listenois three squadrons (360)
1/Guyenne one battalion (500)
Régiment de la Vrillière three squadrons (360)
Régiment d’Isenghien (Walloon) one battalion (500)
Régiment de Fontbeausard three squadrons (360)
Régiment de Beaufermé two battalions (1,000)
35. Conflans’ Brigade
Oberglauheim to Lutzingenheim (Field Marshal, Johann
Baptist, Count d’Arco) (65 squadrons) (7,800) Régiment de Conflans two squadrons (240)
1st Line (Cavalry): (Lt-Gen., the Marquis de Mag- Régiment de Rouvray two squadrons (240)
nac) + (Maréchal de Camp Vivans) (12 squadrons) North of Lutzingenheim (Lt-Gen., the Marquis de Sauffrey) +
(1,440) (Maréchal de Camp de Lee) (12 battalions) (6,000)
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28 #238
For Your Information
having fled. A party of spear-armed day. The Hehe then withdrew, after Mkwawa had spent several years
Hehe were also fired on. Then the burning the grass to kill any wounded rebuilding his capital with stone forti-
column moved toward Mkwawa’s unable to flee. Tettenborn estimated fications after seeing similar fortifica-
capital, Kalenga, which the Germans Hehe dead at 700, while the Germans tions built both by other tribes and
had heard to be a fortified town. lost 10 of their number including Arabs near the coast. Its walls were
At 7 a.m. on 16 August, with Zelewski, 200 native troops, 96 por- almost four kilometers in circumfer-
Zelewski riding a donkey at the front ters, 200 rifles, three cannon and most ence, fronted by thorn-filled ditches
of his column, the Germans walked of their baggage. Mkwawa had won and guard towers for added protec-
into an ambush launched by perhaps the day, but he forbade mourning the tion. Avoiding the route of Zelewski’s
3,000 Hehe. Accounts differ, but it dead to avoid further depressing the doomed expedition had taken three
appears the Hehe signal to attack survivors. years prior, the Germans approached
was an imitated birdcall, or perhaps The Germans were unable to Kalenga from uplands above the town
a single gunshot. Either a real bird respond immediately to this defeat and encamped only 400 meters from
called out, or one of the Germans shot as they had other restless tribes to it.
at some nearby game. At any rate, deal with. In the meantime, the Hehe The Germans attacked before
the Hehe assumed it was their signal attacked trade caravans and made dawn on 30 October, led by Capt.
and charged out of the bush at the raids against tribes who had submit- Tom von Prince and, after breach-
column. That first charge shattered the ted to the Germans. But Berlin was ing the walls of the fortified town,
column, but German survivors under not pleased. By late 1894 the colonial engaged in close combat among the
a Lt. Tettenborn managed to reach German Governor, Freiherr von houses and inner fortifications. One
a nearby hill where they defended Schele, and built up his armed forces. German and many native troops were
themselves for the next night and He marched inland with a large expe- killed, but the place was in German
dition, bound again for Kalenga. hands by the end of the day. Many
Hehe, including Mkwawa, fled. Von
Prince discovered 30,000 pounds of
gunpowder and much ivory in the
town.
The Germans were amazed the
Hehe had defended their town in a
set-piece battle rather than using his
usual guerilla tactics to attack the
column on its march inland. Perhaps
Mkwawa thought his citadel impreg-
nable. It was reported that, when the
walls were breached, he attempted
suicide, but was persuaded to instead
flee by his men.
Despite the loss of his capital,
Mkwawa still didn’t come to terms
with the Germans. He continued to
ambush German forces and attack
tribes that had submitted to the colo-
nial authorities. In 1896 the Germans
again returned to the interior and this
time built a substantial fort of their
own at Iringa, seven miles from Ka-
lenga. The balance of power had not
shifted. Mkwawa ordered four of his
subordinates, including his youngest
brother Mpangile, to surrender to von
Prince. The Germans then installed
Plan of Kalenga, reproduced from a reproduction [and translation] of von Schele’s plan,
Mpangile as the new Sultan of the
in “Mitteilungen von Forschungsreisenden aus den deutschen Schutzgebieten” 1896
Hehe in an attempt to rule through
30 #238
For Your Information
him. Mkwawa’s raids continued, tion as they have been constantly came to power in early 1933 the
though, and believing Mpangile was helpful during the war. In their eyes book was banned, and it was publicly
partly responsible for continuing this would be a tangible proof that burned on 10 May that year along-
attacks on his troops, von Prince had German power has been completely side works by authors such as Freud,
him tried and convicted, executing broken.” Einstein and Jack London. On 24
their hapless client on 21 February The Colonial Office agreed with May, Stanley Baldwin, British foreign
1897. the suggestion, and the clause was affairs secretary, was asked in the
Hehe resistance began to weaken duly inserted in the treaty as Article House of Commons the whereabouts
as the continuing unrest brought 246, alongside a claim for an ancient of the skull and the government’s
hunger and disease in its wake. In Koran manuscript supposedly passed intentions regarding it. He could
mid-1898 the Germans received re- to Germany by the Turkish authorities only reply it had not yet been traced,
ports of the whereabouts of Mkwawa. who had removed it from Medina. and another MP suggested, to much
An expedition pursued him, and on laughter, that Churchill and Lloyd
The Germans were perplexed by
19 July came across his body in a George, as the main authors of the
the demand for the skull, which had
cave alongside those of two of his treaty, should form a Royal Commis-
nothing to do with the World War.
companions. Mkwawa had this time sion to investigate.
They declared the skull had never
committed suicide to avoid capture. been taken to Germany, and had On 7 June 1933, a Berlin news-
Staff Sgt. Maj. Merkl, who dis- probably been buried somewhere near paper followed up the parliamentary
covered the bodies, shot Mkwawa’s Iringa. As the Germans had protested debate, claiming the story of the skull
corpse through the head, not believing almost every article of the treaty, the was myth, and had only been used
he was actually dead. Merkl then British were not convinced by that ar- by British intelligence agents to stir
persuaded one of his native troopers gument and, after further probing, the up the tribes of Tanganyika against
to decapitate Mkwawa, and the head German Foreign Ministry submitted the German authorities. The skull
was exhibited in Iringa. The death of a report to the British Foreign Office story was thus used to disparage the
Mkwawa ended Hehe resistance to dated 6 May 1920. In that report, Col. Versailles Treaty as a whole.
German colonial domination. When Ernst Nigmann claimed he had ex- On 17 March 1936, the where-
other tribes subsequently rebelled, the changed Mkwawa’s skull for another abouts of the skull was again
Hehe remained neutral or sometimes with Mkwawa’s family. discussed in the House of Commons.
even supported the Germans against Another explanation was also Again to much laughter, the colonial
longstanding enemies. offered, this one affirmed by Merkl secretary replied that, despite the best
Mkwawa’s head was dried and himself, that he had preserved the efforts of the German government, it
taken to Dar es Salaam by Merkl to head in alcohol, but that Hehe war- had not been traced, and would not be
be shipped to Germany. The collect- riors had later broken into the German pursued further.
ing of skulls formed an important part fort and removed the head and the World War II then intervened,
of colonial anthropological studies alcohol, leaving a substitute freshly but in 1951 Hehe Chief Adam Sepi,
of the time, and hundreds of native severed head behind. The theft was Mkwawa’s grandson, approached Sir
skulls were shipped to Europe for sci- only discovered, he wrote, when Edward Twining, governor of Tang-
entific and pseudo-scientific research. the replacement head “came to the anyika, once more inquiring as to the
After World War I, such artifacts olfactory attention of the German gar- return of the skull. Twining made new
became one of the mainstays of Nazi rison.” inquiries, and received information
racial theories. Additionally, heads In Tanganyika, Gov. Byatt scorned the skull might be at the Bremen’s
and skulls provided popular souvenirs all those explanations, concluding Overseas Museum. Twining and the
for colonial officials and tourists, that “to pretend the skull had been local British consul visited there,
even being used as ashtrays. returned is a travesty of facts in an at- where the director revealed cupboards
During World War I, the Brit- tempt to empty a further clause of the containing 2,000 human skulls while
ish Empire conquered German East peace treaty.” informing the visitors only 84 were
Africa, though not without difficulty. from German East Africa. He also
Finally, though, on 22 August
The Hehe supported the British, claimed no other institution in Ger-
1921, Colonial Secretary Winston
and the post-war British administra- many had skulls from that region.
Churchill told Byatt that, “in the cir-
tor (and later governor) of former cumstances I do not propose to take The skulls were arranged accord-
German East Africa, Horace Byatt, further action in this matter”. ing to their “cephalic indices.” For
suggested the return of Mkwawa’s once the outmoded theories of head
There things rested until 1931,
skull be one of the stipulations in the measurement proved useful. Mea-
when German author Rudolf Frank
Treaty of Versailles. His intention was surements of the heads of Adam Sapi
published an anti-war novel titled The
to “allow the Hehe to bury it with due and his family all fell into Group 71
Skull of the Negro Chieftain Mkwawa,
ceremony in the grave of Mkwawa, and, among the skulls belonging to
in which the skull was used a totem to
thereby giving the Hehe full satisfac- that group, one was discovered with
lead the tribe to war. When the Nazis
strategy & tactics 31
For Your Information
a bullet hole in the temple and signs On 19 June 1954 the skull was
of injury by a sharp object. Forensic formally returned to the Hehe, in a
study suggested the hole was caused dramatic ceremony in front of 30,000
by a bullet of the type used by Ger- people, some of whom had walked
man colonial forces in the 1890s. The 100 miles to take part. The skull was
sheen of the skull accorded with the placed in a mausoleum in Kalenga,
story of the head having been dried and the Hehe sent several tribal
and preserved in alcohol, and the con- artifacts to the Bremen museum in
dition of the teeth appeared to match gratitude. Today the skull has been re-
what was known about Mkwawa. A moved by the Hehe to a more secure
report and photos were sent to Sapi, location, but a museum to Mkwawa
who deemed the skull to be that of his remains, documenting the campaigns
grandfather. of the African tribal chief and the
strange story of his skull, which fea-
tured in the unlikeliest of places—the Skull of Chief Mkwawa on display
Treaty of Versailles. at the Mkwawa Memorial Museum,
—Brendan Whyte Kalenga, near Iringa.
The British Pacific Fleet in World and some destroyers, all under the Elizabeth, Valiant and Renown),
War II represented the most powerful command of Adm. James Somerville a fleet carrier (Illustrious), eight
single naval striking force assembled and forming the Far East Fleet based cruisers and other supporting units.
by Britain in the course of that war in Ceylon. The Japanese battleship- Several new state of the art battle-
and was, in fact, likely as powerful carrier strike force under Adm. Na- ships and fleet carriers were ticketed
as any force assembled by the Royal gumo sortied into the Indian Ocean in for future assignment to the growing
Navy (RN) at any time in its history. April 1942, but Somerville declined Far East Fleet. Churchill pushed hard
By early 1945 the British Pacific Fleet battle. When Japanese airstrikes on for early offensive action against
consisted of six modern battleships, Ceylon and India did substantial dam- the Andaman Islands in the eastern
six new fleet aircraft carriers, 10 light age and sank a carrier and two cruis- Indian Ocean (Operation Buccaneer),
carriers, 20 cruisers and nearly 100 ers, Somerville withdrew farther west Burma (Operation Bullfrog) and
destroyers and other escort vessels, to Mombassa on the coast of West Sumatra (Operation Culverin), but
along with scores of lighter craft and Africa, conceding to the Japanese the those plans also required substantial
supply ships. Yet one searches in vain East Indian Ocean. Instead of engag- ground forces, sea-lift capacity for
in most histories of the Pacific War ing the Japanese at a disadvantage, he amphibious invasion, and enormous
for even a mention of that formidable concentrated on protecting the Allied stockpiles of supplies, none of which
armada. The truth is, while elements supply route to the Middle East. were available in India.
of that British force were present In mid-1942 the Japanese turned In February 1944 the Japanese
in the late battles in the Central and their attention to the Southwest Pa- shifted much their remaining surface
North Pacific, they played at best a cific and, with the threat to the Indian fleet—seven battleships, two fleet
marginal role there. And why that was Ocean substantially reduced, many of carriers, four heavy cruisers and ac-
true makes an interesting footnote to the British capital ships in the Indian companying destroyers—to Singa-
World War II naval history. Ocean returned to the Mediterranean. pore from Truk to avoid American
In December-February of 1941 For the next two years, Japan contin- air attacks. That worried Somerville,
the British suffered several major ued to threaten much of the Indian and he requested and got an American
defeats at the hands of the Japanese, Ocean with light forces and subma- carrier, Saratoga, to reinforce his na-
losing the Repulse and Prince of rines, including a flotilla of German val airpower. Still, the Japanese made
Wales along with their great base of U-boats based in Penang. no offensive move, nor did the Royal
Singapore. In response, London sent In early 1944 the situation again Navy.
naval reinforcements from the Medi- changed. The war in the Atlantic was The new British fleet was slow to
terranean and the Home Fleets. These going so well the British were able assemble. Most of the veteran units
amounted to several older battleships to reinforce their Far East Fleet to a had seen heavy duty in other theaters.
and aircraft carriers, eight cruisers strength of three battleships (Queen They required refits before beginning
32 #238
For Your Information
a new campaign, while the newer the action off Okinawa as Task Force
units were still training. Nearly all the 57 within the US Navy’s (USN) Third
British carrier aircraft were replaced Fleet.
by new American models—Corsair The RN task force participated
and Hellcat fighters and Avenger in the invasion of Okinawa and in
torpedo bombers—and that involved air and surface gunfire attacks on the
retraining RN pilots. Japanese home islands in the remain-
By late 1944 the British finally ing six months of the war. The BPF
felt strong enough to move offensive- lost no ships but did suffer numerous
ly. In January 1945 the Far East Fleet Kamikaze hits. British carriers had
was split into two commands. Left steel decks and so were better pro-
at Ceylon was the East Indies Fleet, tected against the suicide airplanes.
built around two older battleships, The BPF never exceeded four fleet
Queen Elizabeth and Renown, four carriers and two battleships on station
escort carriers, nine cruisers, and two at any one time, and maintaining even
dozen destroyers under Adm. Arthur that force level proved difficult owing
Power. The bulk of the force went to to logistics and other missions. The
a second new command, the British BPF did all US Adm. Halsey asked
Pacific Fleet (or BPF), under Adm. of it, but mostly performed support
Bruce Fraser, which was to home-port tasks. The official history of the BPF
in Australia with an intermediate sup- states its most important contribution
port base at Manus in the Admiralty to the Pacific War might well have The official US Navy history says
Islands. been the destruction by its carrier the British squadrons were “short-
Initially the BPF was composed planes of the major Japanese oil legged,” meaning they were unsuited
of the battleship King George V, refinery and depot at Palembang in to long cruises with no re-supply or
fleet carriers Indomitable, Victorious, the East Indies, carried out while the refits for months. The Royal Navy
Indefatigable and Illustrious, three fleet was still enroute from the Indian had operated primarily in the North
cruisers and 10 destroyers. Admiralty Ocean to Australia. Atlantic and Mediterranean, where
plans called for the BPF to be rein- That official history also illus- distances from bases didn’t begin
forced over time with two more new trates the difference in scale of the to match the vastness of the Pacific.
fleet carriers, Implacable and Glori- two naval wars—the Pacific and It hadn’t been necessary for the RN
ous, and five more battleships, Anson, everywhere else. Powerful as the BPF to develop an extensive fleet supply
Howe, Duke of York (all new), Nelson would have been in any other theater train, or master the tricky technol-
and the French Richelieu, along with of the war, it amounted to just one ogy of refueling while underway at
several score light carriers, cruisers, of four tasks forces in Halsey’s fleet, 15 knots, and its ships lacked the
destroyers and numerous other craft, which itself was but one of several personnel and equipment needed to
amounting to over 200 ships. US Pacific fleets. Even accepting the make major repairs at sea. The BPF
It had become clear the closing BPF could never have been anything could stay on station for three to four
battles of the war would be fought like an equal partner with the USN in weeks at most, and individual ships
in waters near the home islands of terms of numbers, the official history were constantly dropping out sooner
Japan. Churchill was intent on dem- also notes its performance left much than that. It’s therefore inconceivable
onstrating Britain was still a major to be desired. the much larger BPF the British had
power in the Pacific by having the The BPF was responsible for its planned could have been supported
Royal Navy play an important role in own logistical support, and the offi- logistically.
that final campaign. London intended cial history attributes many of its dif- There was an even more serious
the BPF to be a full partner with the ficulties to that fact: “It is impossible problem concerning BPF—carrier
Americans in the Pacific naval cam- to escape the obvious conclusion... aviation. US carrier groups planned
paigns in 1945 if for no other reason the resources of the British Empire for a monthly loss of 20 percent of
than to restore the British Empire’s were incapable of providing the ships, their planes when heavily engaged,
prestige in the Far East. After refuel- bases and facilities necessary to with the losses quickly made up with
ing and re-supplying the BPF in maintain adequately the Pacific Fleet replacements flown in from support-
Australia, on 15 March 1945, second- operating as it was...at great distances ing escort carriers. The BPF’s losses
in-command Adm. Phillip Rawlings from the main base.” in the 24 strike days off Okinawa
formally reported his command of A supply and support train, such (March-April 1945) amounted to
two battleships, four fleet carriers, as the US Navy had created to sup- over 80 percent of its entire aircraft
five cruisers and nine destroyers to port fleet units on station, could not establishment. Those heavy losses
Adm. Nimitz as ready for duty. On be put together quickly, if indeed at continued in later operations. For
the 23 March he sailed north to join all, given Britain’s depleted resources. example, Implacable lost 28 percent
strategy & tactics 33
For Your Information
of her strike force on July 24-25, TURKISH GETTYSBURG
and some 20 percent conducting
her last action on 10 August. Taken THE BATTLE OF THE SAKARYA RIVER
altogether, British aircraft losses were
Some battles decide not simply persons died of this monkey’s bite.”
50 percent higher than comparable
the outcome of wars but the existence With ambitions for a new Hel-
American ones.
of nations, such as Hastings, Wa- lenic empire in Asia Minor, the king
The official history of the BPF terloo, Gettysburg and the Battle of escalated Greece’s occupation role
attributes he loss rates partly to their Britain. One of the least known such into an invasion of Anatolia. After
lack of “electronic counter-measures, battles was fought from 23 August two failed offensives, some 126,000
stand-off weapons and fragmentation to 14 September 1921, along the Greeks—with superiorities of 410 to
bombs,” which the Americans used Sakarya River in west-central Turkey. 160 cannon and 4,000 machineguns
successfully to suppress Japanese
Turkey was prostrate from its to 700—broke through Turkish lines
radar and anti-aircraft defenses. It was
defeat in World War I, bankrupt, on 10 July 1921 to capture the strate-
also true many BPF pilots were new
dismembered and with a quarter of its gic rail center of Eskishehir.
and lacked experience in attacking
population dead from fighting, famine In reaction, Kemal shot hundreds
well defended ground targets. They
and disease. The capital city of of deserters, ruthlessly requisitioned
had the bad luck to get their on-the-
Constantinople was Allied-occupied. supplies from the civil population,
job-training when the Japanese were
The victorious Allies imposed on the and ordered his troops to dig in along
fighting desperately in defense of
Sultan and his client government a the Sakarya River to make a final
their home islands. More, the relative
treaty that stripped Turkey itself of 75 stand just 50 miles from his capital
unfamiliarity of the British pilots
percent of its territory and effectively of Ankara. Halide Edip, who served
and crews with their new Corsairs,
left the remainder under foreign con- in his headquarters during the battle,
Hellcats and Avengers made for
trol. later said Kemal “was not quite sure
frequent crashes on landing. The
overarching truth probably is that the “But,” as Winston Churchill that this would lead to victory, and he
BPF was rushed into combat without would later write of this episode, saw that he had to die with the rest if
an adequate training and shake-down “among the stern hills and valleys of the disaster took place.”
period. the Turkish homeland in Anatolia, For 22 days the Greeks battled
there dwelt the company of poor 90,000 Turks in ridges and hills 60
In sum, the official history of the
men…who would not see it settled so; miles along the Sakarya River. “The
Royal Navy in World War II man-
and at their bivouac fires at this mo- fighting was fierce and murderous,”
ages a positive ending note: “The
ment sat in the rags of a refugee the wrote Kemal’s biographer Lord
renewal and strengthening of mutual
august Spirit of Fair Play.” Embody- Kinross. Kemal ordered: “Not one
confidence between the sea services
ing that spirit was the man Churchill inch of Turkish soil will be surren-
of the two principle maritime nations
said, “ranks with the four or five dered until it is drenched in Turkish
will stand as the greatest of the ac-
outstanding figures of the cataclysm”: blood!” Bleeding most profusely was
complishments of the British Pacific
Mustafa Kemal, later known as the 5,000-man officer corps Kemal
Fleet.”
Ataturk (Father of the Turks, 1881- had created. Of them, 300 were killed
That’s probably a fair claim, and 1938). and more than another 1,000 were
the experience was also important for
A combination of patriot, soldier, wounded. Kemal would later say it
another reason: it marked the clear
statesman and libertine, Kemal was indeed “an officer’s battle.”
transition in global naval supremacy.
organized a resistance movement and The Greeks crossed the river,
The best fleet Britain could contribute
rival government in Anatolia, routed taking the important heights of Mount
to the Pacific War was only a support-
the Sultan’s forces in a brief civil war, Mangal the first night, then advanced
ing player to American naval power.
and attacked British positions near foot by bloody foot up the hills and
The future of naval warfare would
Constantinople. The French and Ital- ridge lines along the Sakarya a mile a
henceforth be dominated by the ap-
ians were prepared to withdraw, but day for 10 days toward the key Mount
plication of large-scale, expensive,
British Prime Minister David Lloyd Chal. “Until they occupy the Mount
high-technologies that were beyond
George was determined to persevere, Chal there is nothing to worry about,”
Britain’s resource. So it was in 1945,
and found an ironic enforcer for said Kemal, “but if they do that, we
and so it remained through the long
Imperial policy in the King of Greece, had better look out.”
decades of the next global struggle,
Constantine I. Constantine had been When the Greeks did take it,
the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
ousted by the Allies during the war Halide Edip wrote: “There was grim
Warren C. Robinson as pro-German, then returned when silence everywhere, and the ugliest
his son and successor died of blood sort of fate seemed to hang over ev-
poisoning after being bit by his pet eryone in the headquarters…[Kemal]
monkey. Churchill was to observe of tormented himself with indecision as
that: “It is perhaps no exaggeration to whether he should order the retreat
to remark that a quarter of a million or not.”
34 #238
In a speech a few weeks later, Kemal claimed: “For
an army that keeps its head, a single position is of no
importance…Accordingly, our army was not worried by
The Long Tradition:
the loss of Mount Chal.” Still, he ordered a counterattack.
And so Chal Dag [“dag” = mountain. Ed.] was taken back
50 issues ago, S&T 188:
six days later, and Kemal continued the counteroffensive. Army Group South. The issue game
He later described how the hills were “lively with the was a reprint of two scenarios from the
lugubrious intonation of artillery and the nervous tic-tac halcyon days of SPI, Kiev and Ros-
of machineguns. Through the field glass I could see men tov, with the lead article being Joseph
coming nearer and nearer and even the fall of the men in
Miranda’s analysis of the Eastern Front.
the front line, leaving it indented and broken, and the final
onslaught with bayonets. Thus the ants take their exercises Elsewhere in the Big One, Arnold Blum-
around the small yellow mounds of their nests.” berg wrote about Anvil-Dragoon, the
The Greeks were by that time short of food, water and invasion of southern France. Britain Train
ammunition. Their supply lines, overextended and other- made the long march with the Chinese
wise inadequate, were repeatedly cut by Turkish cavalry civil wars, and Michael Holmes looked
raiders. Kemal’s deputy, Ismet, had fought the Greek com- at German defensive doctrine in the 20th
mander, Gen. Anastasios Papoulas, in an earlier offensive century.
and knew the latter was prone to lose his nerve: “Papoulas
avoided disaster. But he never won a battle.”
And the Greek commander chose in the end to continue
100 Issues Ago, S&T 138:
that record. He recommended withdrawal the day after he Eylau. Ken Broadhurst designed a quick and
had taken Chal Dag. Turkish losses were 3,700 dead and dirty wargame of Napoleon’s winter battle
18,000 wounded, against 4,000 Greek dead and 19,000 with the Russians that turned into the
wounded. Traveling with the Greeks as a correspondent, Emperor’s first stalemate, while Raymond
historian Arnold Toynbee wondered: “Would a Greek army Bell wrote the article on the same topic.
penetrate that distance into Anatolia again?”
Then Stephen B. Patrick plunged into a
The answer was “no.” After several more defeats, the
millennia of war, treachery and civiliza-
Greek army entirely evacuated Anatolia via the port of
Smyrna a year later. Kemal’s forces either torched, or let
tion with the Byzantine Empire.
fires consume, the Greek and Armenian quarters of the
town and slaughtered thousands of its inhabitants. The
debacle brought down Lloyd George in Britain. It also led
150 Issues Ago, S&T 88:
to a revolution in Athens that sent the king into final exile British Army of the Rhine. The
while his prime minister and other officials faced a firing redoubtable Chuck Kamps contributed to
squad. In Lausanne, Switzerland, Ismet negotiated a new S&T’s NATO series with the British sec-
peace treaty, no doubt one of the best ever secured by a tor in that great World War III that never
defeated nation, which restored Turkey’s independence and quite broke out. The prolific Al Nofi then
secured its modern boundaries.
stood with Prince Hal and Joan of Arc in
Years later, when he was President of Turkey, Kemal his article on the Hundred Years War. And
was presented a heroic-scale painting of the Battle of the
FYI continued the tradition of military
Sakarya River, but angrily rejected it: “All those who took
part in the battle know very well that our horses were all trivia.
skin and bone and that we were hardly any better our-
selves. Skeletons all of us. In painting those fine warriors 200 Issues Ago, S&T 38:
and sleek horses, you dishonor Sakarya, my friend.”
John W. Osborn, Jr.
CA. “CA” stands for heavy cruiser, and the
issue game was Dave Isby’s design of the
same name covering tactical level ship
DATA FILE: to ship combat in the Pacific Theater of
American Ships of the Line Operations, WWII. It was sort of like
For two centuries—from 1650 to 1850—a nation’s Panzerblitz on the high seas. Then Al Nofi
naval prestige was measured by its ships-of-the-line. wrote about the Gettysburg campaign,
Ships-of-the-line were wooden sailing vessels with at least putting the big battle into the bigger
two full gun decks and mounting a total of 64 or more picture, while Sid Sackson reviewed non-
cannon. They were capable of standing in a line-of-battle wargame games out of the wrapper.
and contending for command of the sea. The United States
became an independent country only in the latter half of
this era, and had a real navy only in the last half-century of
the age of fighting sail.
Still, between 1776 and 1850 various US administra-
tions authorized construction of 23 ships-of-the line, and
continues next page
strategy & tactics 35
For Your Information
built 15. Some proved little more than were assembled, but the war‘s end 20; and the Pacific 1821-24.
“nice tries,” useful only as learning also ended the need to build these Columbus
experiences in naval architecture. ships. They were never begun. Keel Laid: May 1816
Others were examples of their type’s Their materials were eventually
finest designs: heavily armed yet fast used in the Independence class Launched: 1 March 1819
and maneuverable. All but two of the ships. Commissioned: 29 November 1819
US ships-of-the line, those two built Independence Class: four authorized Service as ship-of-the-line: 1819-21 &
on the Great Lakes, were designed by and built 1845-48
three men: Joshua Humphries, a self- Designer: Samuel Humphries Burned: April 1861.
taught naval architect who designed Delayed due to the destruction of the
the frigates Constitution and Constel- Tonnage: 2,243
Dimensions: 190’10” x 54’7.5” x 25’ Washington Navy Yard in 1814,
lation, his son, Samuel Humphries, Columbus’s design was then
and John Doughty, a protégé of Rating: 74 guns modified to improve its buoy-
Humphries. The American ships-of- Intended Armament: 30 x long ancy. Initial armament was 68 x
the-line were as follows. 32-pound cannon, 33 x medium long 32-pound cannon and 24 x
32-pound cannon, 24 x 32-pound 42-pound carronades. Served as
America Class: three authorized, one carronades. Mediterranean flagship 1820-21
built Authorized: 2 January 1813, as a re- and on the 1846 expedition to
Designer: Joshua Humphries sult of the War of 1812. Only one Japan. Supported naval operations
Tonnage: 1,982 completed before war’s end. Ships along the Pacific coast during the
of the class were as follows. Mexican-American War. Burned in
Dimensions: 183’6” x 50’6” x 23’ Norfolk to prevent capture by the
Independence
Rating: 74 guns Confederates during the Civil War.
Keel Laid: August 1813
Intended Armament: 30 x 18-pound Great Lakes Class: two authorized and
guns, 32 x 12-pound long guns, Launched & Commissioned: 22 June
1814 built
and 14 x 9-pound long guns. Designers: Henry Eckford, Adam &
The Continental Congress authorized Service as a ship-of-the-line: 1814-22
Noah Brown
construction of three ships-of- Converted 1836, thereafter a 54-gun
frigate. Then a receiving ship: Tonnage: 2,805
the-line in November 1776, to be
built in Portsmouth, Boston and 1854-1912. Disposed: 1913. The Dimensions: 204’ x 56’ x 24’
Philadelphia. Only the Portsmouth first ship-of-the-line finished for Rating: 74 guns
ship was built. the US Navy, a design flaw put Intended Armament: 63 x long 32-
America its lower gun ports only three feet pound cannon, 24 x 32-pound
above the water. The lower deck carronades.
Keel Laid: May 1777 had to be caulked shut when cruis-
Launched: 5 November 1782 Congress authorized construction of
ing. It was converted to a success- ships-of-the-line for the Great
John Paul Jones superintended con- ful large frigate by removing the Lakes on 3 March 1813. Construc-
struction. The ship was given to upper gun deck. tion started in January 1815, and
France to replace the Magnifique Washington was completed in 42 days. The war
(74) wrecked at Boston. The ship Keel Laid: May 1813 then ended, and neither ship was
sailed to France in 1783. Lighter launched. Both sat on the stocks
than French 74s, built of inferior Launched: 1 October 1814
Commissioned: 26 August 1815 for many years.
wood and a poor sailer, America
was laid up at Brest until broken Service as ship-of-the-line: August New Orleans
up in 1786. 1815-20 Keel Laid: January 1815
1799 Class: six authorized Broken Up: 1843 Hull Completed: March 1815
Designers: Joshua & Samuel Served as the Mediterranean flagship Sold: 24 September 1883
Humphries 1816-18. Chippewa
Tonnage: 1,859 Franklin Keel Laid: January 1815
Dimensions: 183 ’x 48’6” x 19’6” Keel Laid: 1814 Hull Completed: March 1815
Rating: 74 guns Launched: 21 August 1815 Sold: 1 November 1833
Intended Armament: 74 x 32-pound Commissioned: 20 October 1817 North Carolina Class: seven autho-
long guns Service as ship-of-the-line: 1817-24 rized and built
The quasi-war with France motivated A Receiving Ship: 1843-53 Designer: William Doughty
Congress to authorize funding Broken Up: 1853 Tonnage: 2,633 (Ohio 2,757)
for six 74-gun ships-of-the-line Dimensions: 196’3 ”x 53’ x 21’6”
on 25 February 1799. Materials Franklin served on two foreign
cruises: the Mediterranean, 1818- (Ohio 197’ x 2”)
36 #238
For Your Information
Rating: 74 guns Delaware Pennsylvania Class: one authorized
Intended Armament: 32 x 42-pound Keel Laid: August 1817 and built
long guns, 32 x 32-pound long Launched: 21 October 1820 Designer: Samuel Humphries
guns, 30 x 42-pound carronades. Commissioned: 27 March 1827 Tonnage: 3,105
(In practice, each ship carried a Dimensions: 210’ x 56’9” x 24’
different battery.) Service as ship-of-the-line: 1827-30
& 1833-36 & 1841-44. Rating: 120
These were among “nine ships to rate
not less than 74 guns” authorized Burned: Norfolk, 1861. Intended Armament: 16 x 8” shell
by Congress on 29 April 1816 Delaware served its first two cruises guns and 80 x 32-pound long
(including reauthorizing the in the Mediterranean Squadron, guns, 24 x 32-pound gunnades.
Columbus). The Navy intended to and the third as flagship of the Keel Laid: September 1821
complete the hulls and leave them Brazil Squadron. Launched: 18 July 18 1837
on the stocks as a reserve to be Vermont Commissioned: 28 November 1837
drawn on in the event of war. All Keel Laid: September 1818 Service as ship-of-the-line: 1837-38
hulls were completed before 1825, Hull completed 1825
but some were not launched until Receiving ship Norfolk Navy Yard
the Civil War, and then as store Launched: 15 September 1848 1842-61
ships. Only three saw service as Recommissioned: 30 January 1862 as Burned, Norfolk, 1861
ships-of-the-line. depot ship. Built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
North Carolina Struck from Navy list 19 December was intended as a four-deck “su-
Keel Laid: February 1818 1901. per” ship-of-the-line, but proved
Vermont was commissioned to serve too expensive to operate and man.
Launched: 7 September 1821 After a cruise from Philadelphia
as the depot for the Union squad-
Commissioned: 24 June 1824 ron at Port Royal, SC. Relieved to Norfolk, the ship used only as a
Service as ship-of-the-line: 1824-27 July 1864, it then served as a receiving ship thereafter.
& 1836-39. receiving ship at New York until
Receiving ship: 1839-65 October 1865, and again from Of the 15 ships-of-the-line com-
Sold: October 1867. 1884 to 1901. pleted, 11 were launched, and only
The North Carolina served as Medi- Alabama (renamed New Hampshire eight served as ships-of-the-line in the
terranean flagship in the 1820s and 1863, Granite State 1904) United States Navy. Except for a brief
Pacific Squadron flagship in the Keel Laid: June 1819 period in 1819-20, when the USN
1830s, then became the receiving Hull completed 1825 had four ships-of-the-line in commis-
ship of the New York Naval Yard. sion, rarely were more than two at sea
Launched: 24 April 24 1864 at any one time. The last cruise of a
Ohio Commissioned: 13 May 1864 as a ship-of-the-line as a warship ended in
Keel Laid: November 1817 depot ship. 1850. Thereafter they served as depot
Launched: 30 May 1820 Training Ship: 1866-1921 ships.
Commissioned: 11 October 1838 Burned: 23 May 1921 Had a maritime war broken out
Service as a ship-of-the-line: 1838-41 Relieved Vermont as depot ship off between 1824 and 1836, the US Navy
& 1847-50 Port Royal. After the Civil War could have fielded a squadron of one
Receiving Ship: 1850-75 served as a navy depot a train- 120-gun and eleven 74-gun ships.
Sold: October 1883 ing ship until 1892, when it was Eight of these could have individu-
assigned to the New York State ally matched any other warship in the
Served as Mediterranean flagship on world. For those interested in what-if
first cruise; supported naval opera- Naval Militia, where it served as a
training ship thereafter. scenarios, a squadron action between
tions in the Gulf during the Mexi- the US and a European power during
can-American War, and flagship New York
those years offers tantalizing pos-
of the Brazil station on second Keel Laid: March 1820 sibilities. After 1836, scrapping and
cruise. Receiving ship at Boston Hull Completed 1825 conversion of the older ships, com-
Navy Yard thereafter. In 1847 the Never launched. Burned on stocks, bined with the rise of steam powered
armament was amended to 12 x Norfolk Navy Yard, April 1861. vessels, made the appearance of an
8” shell guns (four per deck), 28 x American ship-of-the-line squadron
long 42-pounders, 32 x 32-pound Virginia
Keel Laid: May 1822 problematical.
guns and a dozen x 32-pound
gunnades (carronades mounted on Hull Completed 1825 Mark N. Lardas
rotating platforms). Never launched. Broken-up on stocks,
Boston Navy Yard, April 1884.
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40 #238
The insurgency of Zimbabwean nationalist forces
against the Rhodesian government began with the
struggle for power between a black majority and a
white minority, the latter with disproportionate access
to land, resources and political power. The Rhodesian
insurgency proved to be one of the more enduring con-
flicts of the Cold War, though it didn’t directly pit the
communist powers against the West.
Rhodesia itself had been established as a Brit-
ish colony by none other than imperial magnate Ce-
cil Rhodes in the 1890s. It became a self-governing
colony in 1923, and supported the British Empire in
two world wars. In 1953 the Federation of Rhodesia
and Nyasaland was formed to include the territory that
now makes up the countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia
and Malawi. In the wake of the nationalism that swept
Africa following World War II, the British government
favored a transition to majority rule in all of its colo-
nies. De-colonization didn’t sit well with Rhodesia’s The last colonial rebellion: Rhodesian police waiting for the
white minority, who saw it as an invitation to chaos. announcement of UDI.
After considerable debate and disagreement over the
future governance of Rhodesia, Ian Smith, leader of gave support to the rebels, but it was not nearby. Only
the ruling conservative Rhodesian Front Party, pub- Zambia, to Rhodesia’s north and bordering directly on
lished the Unilateral Declaration of Independence the country, was ruled by an African government sym-
(UDI) on 11 November 1965. With Salisbury as its pathetic to the insurgents.
capital, Rhodesia would go it alone. Militarily the Rhodesians had armed forces that
were well suited to the task ahead. Among other things,
UDI
Rhodesians had served with distinction alongside Brit-
UDI was the first open rebellion by a British co- ish forces in the successful counter-insurgency in Ma-
lonial administration since the American Revolution. laya. So there was a pool of veterans with experience
Given the international opposition to the continuation in small unit operations in the “bush.”
of European imperialism in the 1960s, Rhodesia in ef-
Two Nationalist organizations confronted the Salis-
fect became an outlaw nation. For a brief period Salis-
bury government. Joshua Nkomo formed the Zimba-
bury was concerned about the possibility of British
bwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU) after his National
military intervention. Instead, Britain imposed eco-
Democratic Party had been banned for rejecting the
nomic sanctions, with the United Nations doing the
1961 Rhodesian Constitution. ZAPU was supported
same. Only the Republic of South Africa supported
mainly by the Ndebele and Kalanga peoples. Dis-
Rhodesia, mainly as a buffer against African nation-
satisfaction with Nkomo’s leadership led Reverend
alism—and even that support wavered whenever it
Ndabaningi Sithole to split from ZAPU and form the
suited South Africa’s interests. The success or failure
Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in August
of an independent Rhodesia therefore depended on the
1963, with Robert Mugabe as secretary. ZANU sup-
commitment to fight on by 7,000 white farmers and
port was based on the Shona people.
270,000 urban whites and Asians, plus a number of
foreign volunteers. Throughout the insurgency, personal, tribal and
ideological differences prevented a unified libera-
Between 3 and 4 million Africans lived by farming
tion front being formed against Smith’s government.
in the Tribal Trust Lands, and over 500,000 resided
in townships abutting the urban areas. The African ZAPU and ZANU mainly fought each other until July
population supplied a majority of the active duty po- 1964, when the first white farmer was killed. Soon
lice force, but those same tribesmen also presented the after, Nkomo, Sithole and Mugabe were arrested and
greatest source of recruits for the insurgency. sent to jail. Other leaders fled to Zambia, where the
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZAN-
While Rhodesia was largely isolated, there were
LA) was created as the military branch of ZANU. The
also several factors working for Salisbury. The flanks
Zimbabwe Peoples Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) be-
of the country were well-covered: white-ruled South
came the armed wing of ZAPU.
Africa was to the south; the Portuguese colony of
Mozambique lay to the east; and Botswana was to “Chimurenga Day,” 28 April 1966, is commemo-
the west. The latter was sparsely populated and under rated by the nationalists as the official beginning of the
domination by South Africa, and was therefore not an insurgency. In a small skirmish know as the “Battle of
effective base for guerrillas. Julius Nyere’s Tanzania Sinoia,” seven insurgents were killed by Rhodesia’s
strategy & tactics 41
British South African Police (BSAP). While a Rhode- reliance on infantry over massed artillery and aerial
sian institution, the BSAP maintained its title from the strikes avoided large-scale collateral damage to the ci-
colonial period. The Nationalists called the new insur- vilian sector.
gency the “Chimurenga War” in order to associate the Rhodesia had to purchase weapons and ammuni-
conflict with the anti-British uprisings of the 1890s. tion illegally through third parties, such as South Af-
Line-up rica, or capture ordnance from the insurgents. It was
imperative the RSF make efficient use of all its limited
Salisbury realized an armed insurgency would
resources. Their best hope was a vigorous containment
overburden even a well established police force, and
strategy would inflict enough losses on the insurgents
so formed the Rhodesian Security Force (RSF) to co-
they would prove too much for them to continue the
ordinate all military, police and paramilitary units. The
struggle. More, by holding out long enough, the Salis-
Rhodesian field forces included the all-white Rhode-
bury government could conceivably attain interna-
sia Light Infantry (RLI) and Special Air Service (SAS)
tional recognition, and that would end the economic
regiments, the mixed race Rhodesian African Rifles
sanctions.
(RAR), plus engineers, artillery and armored cars.
Most white reservists joined the mixed-race Rhodesia ZANU received support from the People’s Repub-
Regiment. As in British Army tradition, the Rhodesia lic of China, and focused on political indoctrination,
Regiment consisted of several battalions that could be infiltration and occupation of territory as the prerequi-
fielded at any time. The air force had an assortment of sites for mounting a direct uprising. ZAPU was spon-
planes and helicopters, and the BSAP was supported sored by the Soviet Union, and aimed at building a
by additional paramilitary and volunteer police units. conventional army for a final assault after the Rhode-
sian Security Forces had been worn down.
The white government couldn’t win the hearts and
minds of the Africans without conceding the major- While the balance of numbers seemed to favor
ity rule that contradicted the premise of the UDI. The the insurgents, throughout the war the anti-govern-
counter-insurgency (or COIN) operations relied on ment forces were plagued by the competition between
well trained, highly motivated, mobile field forces, plus ZANU and ZAPU. Both groups lacked logistic sup-
rural militias, to both suppress infiltration from outside port, communications equipment and medical sup-
the borders and deal with guerillas internally. The tar- plies, which really they lacked the wherewithal for
get of a global embargo, the Rhodesians didn’t have protracted warfare. The Rhodesians could easily lo-
much in the way of armored fighting vehicles (AFVs), cate large rebel bands, while the smaller groups that
heavy artillery or an air force, but all that worked in infiltrated the rural areas achieved little.
their favor in one respect: a counter-insurgency is to a In one typical campaign, insurgents operated in the
large degree a light infantryman’s war. The RSF, then, farming area of Sipolilo for three months in 1968 until
wasn’t burdened with heavy equipment that would the RSF discovered their camps and then killed or cap-
prove inefficient in fighting guerrillas. If nothing else, tured over 100 of their combatants. In July 1968, 91
insurgents in three groups crossed the frontier, heading
for Hartley and Lupane. The RSF carried out a series
of mobile ambushes that killed or captured 80 of those
invaders.
On 15 August 1967, ZAPU announced a military
alliance with the South African National Congress
(SAANC). That alliance brought about the deployment
of paramilitary police and reconnaissance (“Recce”)
units from the South African Defense Force (SADF)
into Rhodesia. The war seemed to be escalating, but
the RSF’s mobile ambushes proved effective and, by
1969, Salisbury believed the insurgents were defeated.
Consequently, Salisbury didn’t mobilize additional
African battalions, even though recruits were avail-
able and the call-ups could have lessened the burden
on the whites.
Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda pressured
ZAPU and ZANU to settle their differences or leave
his country. In 1971 he also deported 129 ZAPU
members to Rhodesia in order to pre-empt a possible
coup. James Chikerema, vice-president of ZAPU, es-
tablished the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe
Rhodesian police reservists waiting to escort a convoy. (FROLIZI) in 1971 and attempted to unify the other
42 #238
Fire Forces, Selous Scouts & Mercs
In the early 1970s the RSF developed a tactic for vertical The other new outfit was the Grey Scouts, a horse cavalry
envelopment called “Fire Force.” Mobile formations were formation that could pursue insurgents into less accessible ar-
based in camps and used Alouette III helicopters as trans- eas. While cavalry might be considered anachronistic, the ani-
ports and gunships. The basic unit was a four-man “stick” mals had advantages off-road and, if nothing else, they were
or half-section including a junior NCO, two riflemen (armed good for the troopers’ morale.
with FN 7.62 mm rifles) and a machinegunner (with a MAG A steady stream of foreigners traveled to Rhodesia to join
7.62 mm machinegun). For the Rhodesians it was a “cor- its armed forces. The Rhodesian Light Infantry included up to
poral’s war,” because junior NCOs exercised considerable 30 percent foreigners, primarily from Britain, South Africa and
responsibility in the bush. the US. To avoid the indiscipline sometimes associated with
Typically, troopers from the RLI, RAR, Selous Scouts mercenaries (or “mercs,” to use the then-popular term), the
and SAS rotated through two-week or three-week tours with RSF required all foreigners to enlist formally in the Rhodesian
Fire Force. They were constantly on call and could expect Army. Many received commissions as officers, but they were
almost daily action. Fire Force teams used rapid deployment all subordinate to the same training and discipline as Rhode-
and quick strikes for maximum impact. Often a group of he- sian citizens.
licopters deployed with one aircraft as an airborne command Throughout the Chimurenga war, the Rhodesian Security
post, one or two more equipped as gunships, and others car- Forces maintained a high kill ratio against the insurgents (or
rying troopers to track down the insurgents. Even against “terrs” as the Rhodesians termed them, slang for “terrorists”).
superior numbers Fire Force was never defeated in battle, a That was in large part due to superior RSF training and plan-
record of success attributable to their superior training, mo- ning. For example, insurgent guerillas were often not trained
bility and firepower. to employ aimed fire with their weapons. Unprepared guerril-
During that same period the RSF created two new spe- las were no match for veteran RSF bush fighters. There were
cialized units. The Selous Scouts (named after a famous also unquantifiable morale factors, with the RSF having the
game hunter, Frederick Courtney Selous) began as the edge owing to the sense of superiority originally engendered
Tracker Combat Unit, and was then expanded to a full battal- during colonial rule. While the Rhodesians may have held the
ion of volunteers. It was raised from combat veterans, most tactical edge, the insurgents could outlast them on the political
of whom were black. Only one in seven applicants passed front and, in the end, that was what mattered.
the demanding indoctrination program. The unit conducted
a successful clandestine war by operating disguised as in-
surgents. Small teams of troopers would live off the land
while they located and stalked guerrillas, then attacked at an
opportune time. The Selous Scouts accounted for 68 percent
of the insurgents killed in Rhodesia.
continued on page 51
48 #238
RHODESIAN SECURITY FORCES SELOUS SCOUTS
(10,800 regulars; 15,000 active reservists) 1 Battalion
(1,800 men, often deployed in small teams)
3 Troops
Lt. Gen. Peter Walls, Combined Operations HQ
Support Troop
RHODESIAN AIR FORCE (2,300 men, 150 pilots)
RHODESIA REGIMENT (Bn nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
one light bomber squadron
4 Territorial Force battalions
6 B2 “Canberra”
4 Territorial Reserve battalions
two fighter-attack squadrons
Six Independent Companies (for local patrols in remote areas)
9 FGA9 “Hunter”
Four Engineer Squadrons
12 RB9 “Vampire”
BRITISH SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE*
4 OV-10 “Bronco”
(8,000 active, 19,000 reserve)
one reconnaissance squadron
Regular Police: two-thirds of the police force was black.
8 T-52 “Provost”
Police Support Units (“Blackboots”): an integrated unit with perma-
11 T-55 “Vampire”
nent black troops and temporary service by white police or service-
one counter-insurgency squadron men. Each troop of 5 to 7 men was assigned to a particular area.
12 AL-60 “Trojan” Special Reserve: paramilitary volunteers in “Dad’s Army” (average
18 Ce-337 “Lynx” age was 55 to 65 years) provided security in European and Asian
one transport squadron residential areas.
1 Be-55 “Baron” Police Anti-Terrorist Units: security for municipal infrastructure and
6 BN-2 “Islanders” population centers.
10 C-47 “Dakotas” Urban Emergency Unit: SWAT team used in urban areas.
two helicopter squadrons Police Mounted Unit: small unit, used with limited effectiveness.
66 SA-316/-318 “Alouette III” Special Branch: for investigation, intelligence and interrogation.
11 Bell 205 “Huey” (aka “Cheetah”) * “British South African Police” was the formal name for the Rhode-
sian national police, which also had a paramilitary role. It was, of
RHODESIAN LIGHT INFANTRY (1,000 men)
course, manned by Rhodesians, both white and black.
3 Commando Companies (100 to 150 men each)
SECURITY FORCE AUXILIARIES (3,000 to 16,000)
Support Commando (heavy weapons)
SOUTH AFRICAN DEFENSE FORCES
Base Group (HQ and Support)
From 1967-1974 the South Africans deployed the equivalent of
Note: unit members generally were parachute qualified a battalion of paramilitary police as well as helicopters and pilots to
RHODESIAN AFRICAN RIFLES Rhodesia. SADF “Recce” commandos and paratroopers also conduct-
4 Battalions (700 men each) of 3 Rifle companies each ed operations.
RHODESIAN ARTILLERY REGIMENT
1 Battery (active duty) six M101 105mm Howitzers
1 Battery (reservists) six 25 pounders
10 ZPU-4/20mm anti-aircraft guns (captured from
ZANLA/FPLM)
RHODESIAN ARMOURED CAR REGIMENT
4 Armored Car Squadrons (1 regular, 3 reservists) of 4
troops each
60 Eland, 54 S/90 Scout Cars
50 UR-416 Armored Personnel Carriers
20 Ferret Armored Cars
1 Tank Squadron
8 T-55 Tanks (obtained through South Africa)
SPECIAL AIR SERVICE
1 Regiment of 4 Squadrons (several hundred men)
GREY’S SCOUTS
3 Combat Squadrons (160 men)
3 Troops of four sections
Support Squadron
60mm and 81mm mortar section
Reconnaissance troop
Tracking Troop (with trained dogs)
50 #238
While the Muzorewa government anticipated a place. Quartz and Hectic were cancelled three hours
transfer of power to the nationalists, the security force before the code word launching them was to have been
strategy was to delay the insurgents long enough to given.
persuade Nkomo and Mugabe to accept moderate
terms with some future for the white minority. To dis-
Zimbabwe at Last
rupt the ZIPRA invasion plan, the SAS, RLI and Sel- Through 15 years of intermittent and at times in-
ous Scouts carried out Operation Dice, during which tensive fighting, the Rhodesian Army established itself
they destroyed the bridges in Zambia leading to the as a well trained, integrated and efficient armed force.
border and linking Zambia to Tanzania. The dam- The white population endured taxation and conscrip-
age to the Zambian economy and infrastructure was tion in the vain hope of maintaining its political power,
monumental, and caused President Kaunda to pressure but that cause was doomed from the beginning. The
Nkomo into working toward an agreement. RSF could strike quickly over significant distances,
but the war couldn’t really be won by holding terrain
In mid-1979, Mozambique’s government actively
and running up kill ratios.
supported ZANLA by sending 300 FRELIMO troops
into Rhodesia. The Rhodesians responded with more As usual, politics dominated. Given the anti-colo-
cross-border attacks to destroy armories, mine roads nial feeling common in that era, it was impossible for
and interrupt the flow of supplies and reinforcements. the Rhodesian government to gain recognition from
By September the external raids had projected the the international community and, without that support,
war into Mozambique and caused friction between their options were increasingly limited. While Rhode-
Mugabe’s faction and his FRELIMO host. Fire Force sia could conceivably have operated within a greater
operations were killing his leaders and trained fighters framework of a white-ruled southern Africa, alongside
faster than he could replace them. And the SFA forces the Portuguese empire and South Africa, that possibil-
were sometimes displacing the ZANLA forces in the ity was scotched with the independence of Mozam-
tribal territories. bique and Angola.
At Lancaster House an agreement was finally Rising white emigration then depleted the pool of
reached for a ceasefire. The insurgents were to gather manpower available for call-up, leaving some infan-
at assembly points, and the British would appoint a try companies with fewer than 30 white soldiers. As
governor to oversee the transition from colonial rule. the insurgents increased in numbers, the Rhodesians
(London had still not officially recognized Rhodesia retrenched to more defensive operations punctuated
as an independent state.) ZIPRA used the ceasefire as by fierce cross-border attacks. By the late 1970s, Rho-
cover to establish bridgeheads for its planned assault. desian losses were increasing, eventually reaching a
ZANLA kept a large proportion of its forces outside total of 1,735 dead. In contrast, insurgent losses were
the assembly points while infiltrating another 8,000 estimated at 40,000, but their supply of recruits and
insurgents into the country. The ceasefire forced the equipment was endless. The RSF couldn’t bring the
Rhodesians to suspend their cross-border raids, which war to an end even though their troops were won virtu-
were the only things still working to keep insurgent ally every fight.
forces at bay. In the elections of 14-29 February 1980, Mugabe’s
On 12 December 1979, Lord Christopher Soames party won 57 seats in the new government, Nkomo
entered Salisbury as British governor, thereby certify- took 20, Muzorewa three, and Sithole none. Thus the
ing the political return of Rhodesia to colonial status. struggle ended, and Mugabe became the elected prime
Nkomo overruled his Soviet and Cuban advisors, who minister of the new nation of Zimbabwe. Within a few
wanted him to continue the fight for more favorable years, most whites had left the country. The 15-year-
concessions, and signed the Lancaster Peace Settle- long Chimurenga War was over. A new struggle, this
ment. Smith predicted Mugabe would win the election, time in South Africa, was about to begin.
though most whites hoped for a coalition of Nkomo,
Muzorewa and Smith. The general belief was that if
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mugabe lost he might attempt a coup. To forestall such
Bond, Geoffrey. The Incredibles: the story of the 1st Battalion, the Rhodesian
a power grab, the RSF planned two more operations. Light Infantry. Salisbury: Sarum Imprint, 1977.
Operation Quartz was to be a pre-emptive strike Cilliers, J. K. Counter-insurgency in Rhodesia. London: C. Helm, c1985.
against insurgent assembly points with the RLI and Cocks, C. J. Fireforce: One Man’s War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Roode-
poort, South Africa: Covos Books, 1997.
Selous Scouts in the lead. At the same time, Opera- Ellert, H. The Rhodesian front war: Counter-insurgency & guerrilla war in
tion Hectic was to be an attack by the SAS to kill Rhodesia, 1962-1980. Gweru: Mambo Press, c1989.
Mugabe and his key subordinates. The South Afri- Martin, David. The struggle for Zimbabwe: The Chimurenga War. London:
cans would support the attack with some of the 1,000 Faber and Faber, 1981.
Moorcraft, Paul L. Chimurenga! The war in Rhodesia, 1965-1980: A military
troops who’d taken up positions in southern Rhodesia history. Marshalltown: Sygma/Collins, c1982
to secure an escape route for the whites if the situation Nesbit, Roy Conyers. Britain’s rebel air force: The War from the air in Rhode-
warranted evacuation. Those final actions never took sia, 1965-1980. London: Grub Street, c1998.
Wacht Am Rhein
The Battle of the Bulge, 16 Dec 44 – 2 Jan 45
SUB Total
VISA/Mc (ONLY)#
and player aid cards. $110.00*
Expiration Date
*ships as 3 units on ship chart.
Signature
steam-driven boat. Though it didn’t sink the ironclad, it inflicted be depressed enough to fire on it. Three other factors prevent-
enough damage to force its temporary withdrawal for repairs. A ed the Housatonic defending itself successfully: 1) the Hunley
Confederate deserter also informed Union authorities Charles- was a more powerful craft than the earlier submarine of 1861;
ton’s “diver” (the CSS Hunley) was operationally ready, and its 2) Charleston’s ebb tide had pushed the ship’s nets several feet
captain was only waiting for the right sea and light conditions to closer to its hull; and 3) perhaps most importantly, the Hunley’s
attack. 33 foot spar enabled it to deliver its torpedo without becoming in
Dahlgren also ordered each ironclad to rig additional light- any way entangled in those nets.
ing (calcium lights) and make them available to lookouts and Thus two simple improvements and the local environ-
gunners to illuminate any craft or objects approaching the ment come together to ensure the Hunley’s success against a
ship. He also directed his ironclads space out their anchorages forewarned ship that was prepared, at least nominally, for the
so they could engage any approaching craft, both surface and submarine’s attack. As later wars also demonstrated, command-
submerged, without concern about hitting a friendly unit. He ers can’t defeat a determined submarine unless they detect and
further ordered his units not to anchor in the deepest parts of engage it before it reaches its attack position. Though not men-
the channel, as those areas offered the greatest potential for the tioned specifically in their directives, Union commanders had
submarine to pass below the nets and the ships’ hulls. Ironclads recognized that requirement in their instructions to the fleet.
were to deploy picket-boats around their anchorages any time Given the conditions on 17 February 1864, and the limitations
seas were calm, regardless of rain or visibility conditions. of their equipment, the Housatonic’s crew lacked the capacity
Alerted by the squadron flagship of the possibility of “tor- to defend their vessel successfully. Their quick response to the
pedo boat attack,” the USS Housatonic had the requisite number attack did, however, limit Union casualties to the five killed by
of armed lookouts posted and her cannon crews were also ready. the torpedo’s explosion. The detection-to-engagement cycle re-
Unfortunately the Hunley didn’t have a snorkel to give away its mains the dominant factor governing the outcome of submarine
presence, and it surfaced inside the picket boat line, prevent- versus anti-submarine engagements today.
ing its early detection and engagement. The cannon couldn’t
56 #238
A trained crew could propel it through the water at four
knots in a calm sea, and it handled better in rough seas than
did either of its predecessors. It had fore and aft ballast
tanks, which were emptied by hand pumps and, like all Civil
War submarines, it had iron ballast weights that theoretically
could be released via screw bolts during an emergency. (In
reality, they never worked as intended.) Using a water-level
to determine depth, the captain filled the ballast tanks until
the submarine was submerged to a depth of one to three feet.
Occasionally they went deeper during the tests, but they de-
cided early on not to go below 15 feet. The normal operating
depth employed was held to three feet, so they could main-
tain visual contact with the surface and regain it quickly.
Bow planes mounted along the hull were used to control trim
while submerged and facilitate depth changes.
Hunley conducted two successful trials in Mobile that
year as the Confederate Army took over sponsorship of his
effort. Lt. George Dixon, of the 23rd Alabama Volunteers,
became the project manager. Initially, the Hunley was to
tow its torpedo behind it and drag it under the target to be Union Civil War torpedo boat at dock.
detonated by contact. It successfully sank a coal barge that
way during a test on 30 July 1863. They discovered in later operations, except its one attack, against the USS Octorora on 27
tests, however, that towing the torpedo was impractical and January 1865, was conducted on the surface. Its spar torpedo failed
dangerous if there was any current, wind, or wave action. to detonate, but still forced the St. Patrick to withdraw. The Saint
They therefore decided to go with a spar torpedo, which had Patrick finished out the war ferrying supplies to isolated Confeder-
proven successful when used by surface craft. That change ate garrisons offshore.
was made in August 1863. With Union forces building up off Perhaps as many as 30 submarines were built and tested dur-
Charleston Harbor, the Hunley was loaded aboard rail cars ing the Civil War, and such vessels were employed operationally
and shipped there in late September 1863. at least four times. The primitive technology of those times all but
While in Charleston the Hunley suffered three deadly precluded submarines playing a significant role in the war’s naval
dives during training operations that claimed 15 lives, in- operations. The typical submarine of the Civil War measured 34 to
cluding that of its designer and namesake. Despite those 50 feet in length and had a beam of four to eight feet. Steam propul-
setbacks, Dixon retained his faith in the boat and got permis- sion was considered for surface propulsion, and both sides consid-
sion to employ it against the blockade. ered electric-powered motors for underwater propulsion. In the end,
though, steam power proved impractical, and the electric motors
Originally he’d planned to attack the ironclad New Iron- and the batteries of the time brought with them other engineering
sides, but he had to settle on the sloop of war Housatonic challenges the builders couldn’t meet. So all Civil War submarines
after an attack by a semi-submersible vessel damaged the used men turning hand cranks to rotate screw propellers, effectively
ironclad, forcing its withdrawal for repairs. limited their range and speed to a few miles and knots, respective-
He’d also hoped to conduct his first operation on a moon- ly.
less night, but the submarine’s speed and endurance limits With manpower as the only reliable propulsion, and possess-
necessitated near perfect sea and tide conditions. Those con- ing only spar or towed explosive charges to strike their targets, the
ditions proved so rare he made them the key determinants in Civil War’s submersibles were incapable of achieving the signifi-
his decision to attack. cant role submarines would eventually come to have in 20th century
Visibility was outstanding that night as the Hunley sur- naval operations. Nonetheless, naval leaders on both sides saw the
faced to make its attack, and the rest is history. The Housa- potential use of submersibles in operations. Union Adms. Du Pont
tonic sank with little loss of life, but the Hunley and its entire and Dahlgren both believed submarines would be essential to any
crew were lost some time after it pulled away. It survived attack on Charleston’s defenses, while Confederate leaders saw the
just long enough to signal its success. It was recovered a submersibles’ stealth as the only solution to the Union blockade.
few years ago by a team of marine archeologists, and is now Civil War submarine operations had little impact on Europe-
preserved at the Confederate Museum in Charleston South an naval leaders. The nature of Civil War naval operations, with
Carolina. their focus on coastal blockade and rivers, ensured European na-
In 1864 the South commissioned the Singer Construc- val observers saw little potential for submarine operations in the
tion Company to build submarines along the Arkansas River, open ocean. Only navies with a significant coastal defense mission
but it isn’t clear if any were completed or employed. If so, – those of Austria, Germany, and France – saw utility in a type of
they and any records of them were destroyed to prevent their naval combatant that couldn’t operate far from shore.
capture by Union forces advancing into that area. Private research dominated submarine development over the
The South’s final submarine project was the dual-pro- next 40 years but, as torpedoes and propulsion systems improved,
pulsion CSS Saint Patrick, which was built in Selma, Ala- so too did naval interest in submarines return. The American Civil
bama. Using steam when surfaced, it shifted to manpower War had demonstrated the submarine’s utility in coastal operations,
once submerged. Given the problems of shutting down the and those lessons would dominate naval visions of the submarine’s
steam plant before submerging, diving must have been a primary mission until well into the First World War.
time consuming and daunting experience. The 30 foot ves-
sel reportedly had just a six-man crew. Little is known of its
strategy & tactics 57
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Conquerors, A Mighty Fortress, Ancient
Conquest, and Battle for Stalingrad.
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