Talk:Flying column

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, now in the public domain.

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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.

[edit] 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)