Talk:Flying column

Untitled
The photograph was incorrectly entitled The West Cork Flying Column. This is not correct. It was Seán Hogan's flying column operating on the border between Kilkenny and Tipperary.

Better Description
A better description of what Flying Column means would perhaps be helpful. 'Troops usually composed of all arms' is a confusing statement. What does it mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.245.59.3 (talk) 14:22, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
 * 'all arms' means infantry, cavalry and artillery, I agree it needs better explanation Modest Genius talk 13:11, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

It's composed of Cavalry, Artillery and Infantry so that it can carry out independent operations, without need from other, slower columns. It's supposed to act independently and conduct it's missions "On the fly" ie, taking an objective then quickly setting up a defense, or taking an objective and hurrying off to another. I think the article really fails to mention why the Flying column is assembled in place of a bigger, more organized unit. The ideal example is the French forces fighting the guerrilla's in the Peninsula war under Napoleon. They would split their forces down to the minimum and send flying columns off to cover as much ground as possible, since the Spanish and Portuguese offered little resistance other than small bands of troops. It was more economical to give younger officers command of smaller units than wasting the time and resources of more experienced officers.

The article is a stub, I think we can afford to flesh it out more. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.219.99.47 (talk) 08:31, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

I actually think a good question is if it's even conceivable for a flying column to be put together in modern day, first world militaries. The Bryce (talk) 05:09, 1 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Though more formallised now the Battlegroup is the modern descendent of this concept through the lineage of the German Kampfgruppes. Most famously the Nazi's ad hoc formations of the best suited/available troops at hand to create mobile "fire brigades" to extinguish and plug enemy breakthroughs. Actually I think that flying columns are well within the abilities and doctrines of modern first world militaries, though we now call them Rapid Deployment Forces.KTo288 (talk) 12:30, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Defense Scheme No. 1
I added a mention of Defence Scheme No. 1 to the History section as it would have made heavy use of flying columns, and although it was purely theoretical, I think it helps demonstrate the potential strategic use of flying columns in a major war. I linked to War Plan Red because it is topical to any mention of DS1, but I am aware that DS1 was developed and retired prior the development and disclosure of War Plan Red, not in response to it, so I linked to War Plan Red without specifically mentioning it in order to avoid giving that impression. I wasn't sure how to fully format the references, so I just provided them as links.

I also rearranged the "History" section into chronological order, because I find that easier to read. I did this as a separate edit in case there was some rhyme or reason to it's former order, in which case it can be reverted. I'm an inexperienced editor so I appreciate any constructive criticism! &#32;- Syd (talk) 07:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)