Raid (military)
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 British commandos watch as an ammunition dump burns during Operation Archery, Vågsøy 27 December 1941. | |
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Raiding, also known as depredation, is a
The purposes of a raid may include:
- to demoralize, confuse, or exhaust the enemy;
- to ransack, pillage, or plunder
- to destroy specific goods or installations of military or economic value;
- to free POWs
- to capture enemy soldiers for interrogation;
- to kill or capture specific key persons;
- to gather intelligence.
Land
Tribal societies
Among many tribal societies, raiding was the most common and lethal form of warfare. Taking place at night, the goal was to catch the enemy sleeping to avoid casualties to the raiding party.[2]
Iron Age Ireland
Cattle raiding was a major feature of Irish society in the Iron Age and forms the central plot of the historical epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (English: Cattle Raid of Cooley).
Bedouin ghazzu
The traditional habit of Bedouin tribes of raiding other tribes, caravans, or settlements is known in Arabic as ghazzu.[3][4] Such activity was still noticed by J. S. Buckingham in 1820s Palestine not only among nomadic Bedouin, but also among the nominally sedentary villagers of er-Riha (Jericho), who left the little land cultivation he observed to women and children, while men spent most of their time riding through the plains and engaging in "robbery and plunder", their main and most profitable activity.[3]
Arabia during Muhammad's era
The Islamic prophet Muhammad made frequent use of raiding tactics. His first use of raids was during the
In August 627[10][11][12] he ordered the First Raid on Banu Thalabah, a tribe already aware of the impending attack. So they lay in wait for the Muslims, and when Muhammad ibn Maslamah arrived at the site, 100 men of the Banu Thalabah ambushed them, while the Muslims were making preparation to sleep, and after a brief resistance killed all of Muhammad ibn Maslamah's men. Muhammad ibn Maslamah pretended to be dead. A Muslim who happened to pass that way found him and assisted him to return to Medina. The raid was unsuccessful.[13]
Medieval Europe
Small scale raiding warfare was common in Western European warfare of the
Large scale raiding
The largest raids in history were the series undertaken during and following the
In the operational level of war, raids were the precursors in the development of the Operational Manoeuvre Groups in the Soviet Army as early as the 1930s.[17]
Seaborne
Raiding by sea was known at the time of the
In the early
During the Second World War, the British set up the
Air
Air landed
Aerial bombardment
The Royal Air Force first used the term "raid" in the Second World War when referring to an air attack. It included those by one aircraft or many squadrons, against all manner of targets on the ground and the targets defending aircraft. "Raid" was different from "battle", which was used for land, sea, or amphibious conflict. An aircraft "raid" was always planned ahead of time. Aircraft patrols (against U-boats) and defensive launches of carrier aircraft (against recently detected enemy ships) are differentiated from raids.
See also
- Marine Raiders
- Chevauchée
- Direct action (military)
- Hit-and-run tactics
- Infiltration tactics
- Slave raiding
- Trench raiding
- List of expeditions of Muhammad
- List of raids
References
- ^ The Handbook Of The SAS And Elite Forces. How The Professionals Fight And Win. Edited by Jon E. Lewis. p.312-Tactics And Techniques, Landings And Raids On Enemy Territory. Robinson Publishing Ltd 1997. ISBN 1-85487-675-9
- ^ Gat (2006)
- ^ ISBN 9781317543473. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ISBN 9781620874141.
- ISBN 978-9960899558
- ^ Muḥammad Ibn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb, Mukhtaṣar zād al-maʻād, p. 346.
- ^ Muḥammad Ibn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb, Mukhtaṣar zād al-maʻād, p. 346.
- ^ Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar, pp.128-131. (online)
- ^ ISBN 9789960980324
- ISBN 9789957051648.Note: Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic, English translation available here
- ISBN 978-9960897547.(online)
- ISBN 978-0887063442
- ]
- ^ Rogers (2007), Chapter 7 Little War
- ^ Rogers (2000), pp. 304–324
- ^ Black (2004)
- ^ Simpkin and Erickson (1987), p. 72
- ^ Griffith (1995), Chapter 4 The Viking Notion of Strategy
- ^ Longmate (1990), pp. 314–382
- ^ Crowley (2008), Chapter 6 The Turkish Sea
- ^ Hanson (2003), pp. 111–122
- ^ Chappell (1996), pp. 5 & 13
- ^ Smith (2012), pp. 48–54
- ^ Chappell (1996), pp. 19–26
- ^ Evans (2000), p. 42
- ^ Thompson (1989), pp. 11 & 18
Sources
- Black, Robert W. (2004). Cavalry Raids of the Civil War. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books.
- Chappell, Mike (1996). Army Commandos 1940–45. Elite Series # 64. London: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-579-9.
- Crowley, Roger (2008). Empires of the Sea. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23231-4.
- Evans, Martin (2000). The Fall of France: Act With Daring. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-969-7.
- Gat, Azar (2006). War in Human Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 1-85367-208-4.
- Hanson, Neil (2003). The Confident Hope of a Miracle. London: Corgi. ISBN 0-552-14975-6.
- Longmate, Norman (1990). Defending the Island. London: Grafton. ISBN 0-586-20845-3.
- ISBN 0-85115-804-8.
- ISBN 978-0-313-33350-7.
- Simpkin, Richard; Erickson, John (1987). Deep Battle: The Brainchild of Marshal Tukhachevskii. London: Brassey's Defence Publishers.
- Smith, Kevin (2012). "Operation Opossum: The Raiding Party to Rescue the Sultan of Ternate, 1945". Sabretache. 53 (4, Dec): 48–54. ISSN 0048-8933.
- Thompson, Leroy (1989). British Paratroops in Action. Combat Troops Number 9. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications. ISBN 0-89747-233-0.
External links
Media related to Military raids at Wikimedia Commons
