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 British commandos watch as an ammunition dump burns duringOperation Archery,Vågsøy 27 December 1941. | |
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Raiding, also known asdepredation, is amilitary tactic oroperational warfare "smash and grab" mission which has a specific purpose. Raiders do not capture and hold a location, but quickly retreat to a previous defended position before enemy forces can respond in a coordinated manner or formulate a counter-attack. Raiders must travel swiftly and are generally too lightly equipped and supported to be able to hold ground. A raiding group may consist ofcombatants specially trained in this tactic, such ascommandos, or as a special mission assigned to anyregular troops.[1] Raids are often a standard tactic inirregular warfare, employed bywarriors,guerrilla fighters or otherirregular military forces. Some raids are large, for example theSullivan Expedition.
The purposes of a raid may include:
The Islamic prophet Muhammad made frequent use of raiding tactics. His first use of raids was during thecaravan raids, and his first successful raid was theNakhla raid. In January 624[2] Muhammad ordered this raid to attack aQuraysh caravan and gather information.[3][4][5] During theInvasion of Thi Amr he ordered a raid on the Banu Muharib and Banu Talabah tribes after he received intelligence that they were allegedly going to raid the outskirts ofMedina.[6] One person was captured by Muslims during this raid.[6]
In August 627[7][8][9] he ordered theFirst Raid on Banu Thalabah, a tribe already aware of the impending attack. So they lay in wait for the Muslims, and whenMuhammad 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.[10]
Small scale raiding warfare was common in Western European warfare of theMiddle Ages. Much of a professional soldiers' time could be spent in "little war", carrying out raids or defending against them.[11] Typical of this style of warfare was the mounted raid orchevauchée, popular during theHundred Years War. Chevauchées varied in size from a few hundred men to armies of thousands, and could range in scope from attacks on nearby enemy areas to the devastation of whole regions, such as that carried out by theBlack Prince inSouthern France in1355. This last is notable not just for its success and scope but the fact that the raiders deliberately captured records in order to carry out a post-operational analysis of the impact of the raid on the enemy economy.[12]
The traditional habit ofBedouin tribes of raiding other tribes, caravans, or settlements is known in Arabic asghazzu.[13][14]Wahhabi raids into Iraq in the early 19th century targeted theholy Shia cities ofNajaf and Karbala, with the most infamous being the1802 sack of Karbala.[15] TheIkhwan raids on Transjordan were a series of attacks by theIkhwan, irregularArab tribesmen ofNajd, on the British-protected Emirate of Transjordan in the 1920s.[16]
TheComanche Wars began in 1706 with raids by Comanche warriors on the Spanish colonies ofNew Spain and continued until the last bands ofComanche surrendered to the United States Army in 1875. Comanche power peaked in the 1840s when they conductedlarge-scale raids hundreds of miles into Mexico proper, while alsowarring against the settlers inTexas.[17] Comanche raids into Mexico usually started inBig Spring, Texas and penetrated by several routes deep into Mexico, as far as the state ofQuerétaro, located 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) south of Big Spring.[citation needed]
It is documented that large war parties of theBororo,Kayapo,Munduruku,Guaraní, andTupi people carried out long-distance raids across the interior of Brazil.[18]
In 1872, theMapuche leaderCalfucurá and his 6,000 warriors attacked several cities in Argentina. These events were a catalyst for the government to mount theConquest of the Desert.
In theoperational level of war, raids were the precursors in the development of theOperational Manoeuvre Groups in the Soviet Army as early as the 1930s.[19]
Raiding by sea was known at the time of thePharaohs, when the shipborne forces of theSea Peoples caused serious disruption to the economies of the easternMediterranean.
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In pre-colonialthalassocracies in the islands of thePhilippines, sea raids (mangayaw) and land wars (mangubat), were regular seasonal activities by warring polities, particularly among theVisayans. Participating in or defending against these raids were part of the duties of the noble (maginoo) and warrior castes (like thetimawa andmaharlika). The main purpose of the raids were to gain prestige in combat, topillage, and to capture hostages. Participation and prowess in these raids were recorded in the widespread practice of full-body tattooing (batok). Raids were usually seaborne, and coastal communities had sentinels that watch for possible raids. When spotted, it was preferable for the defenders to meet the attackers at sea in ship-to-ship combat (bangga) rather than engage them on land. The raids had strict codes of conduct on the treatment of captives. People who surrendered were spared, to be ransomed or to work under temporaryindentured servitude asalipin then set free. Anyone who kills a captive is required to pay their value, or risk becoming analipin themselves. Higher-ranked captives were treated well and were usually ransomed by relatives.[20][21][22]
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In the earlyMiddle Ages,Viking raiders from Scandinavia attacked theBritish Isles,France andSpain, attacking coastal and riverside targets. Much Viking raiding was carried out as a private initiative with a few ships, usually to gain loot, but much larger fleets were also involved, often as intent on extorting protection money (English:Danegeld) as looting and pillaging.[23] Raiding did not cease with the decline of the Viking threat in the 11th century. It remained a common element of the medieval naval warfare. Extensive naval raiding was carried out by all sides during theHundred Years War, often involving privateers such asJohn Hawley ofDartmouth or theCastilianPero Niño.[24] In the Mediterranean, raiding using oaredgalleys was common throughout the Middle Ages and into theRenaissance and was particularly a feature of the wars between the Christian powers and theOttoman Empire in the 16th century.[25] Raiding formed a major component of English naval strategy in theElizabethan era, with attacks on the Spanish possessions in theNew World. Amajor raid onCádiz to destroy shipping being assembled for theSpanish Armada was carried out bySir Francis Drake in 1587.[26] Similarly the Dutch executed theRaid on the Medway during theSecond Anglo-Dutch War and theDutch Raid on North America during theThird Anglo-Dutch War.
During the Second World War, the British set up theCombined Operations Headquarters to organise harassingraids against the Germans in Europe. The first operation conducted by a "commando" formation, known asOperation Ambassador, took place in July 1940, but it was a small-scale operation that resulted in negligible success. The next major raid wasOperation Claymore, which was launched in March 1941 against theLofoten Islands.[27] Throughout the war there were many other operations of varied size, ranging from small scale operations like those undertaken byZ Special Unit against the Japanese in the Pacific, such asProject Opossum,[28] toOperation Chariot – a raid onSaint-Nazaire – and theDieppe Raid, which was a large scale raid employing about 6,000 soldiers, over 200 ships and 74 squadrons of aircraft intended to take and holdDieppe sufficiently to cause sufficient destruction to the port.[29]
Paratroopers andglider-borne troops have been landed by aircraft on raids, includingoffensive counter-air missions such as those carried out by theTeishin Shudan andGiretsu Kuteitai commandos. In the modern era, the helicopter, allowing for both insertion and extraction, offers a superior method of raid transportation, although it comes at the cost of noise.[citation needed] During the Second World War, several air-landed raids were undertaken, including the German glider-borneraid on Fort Eben-Emal in Belgium in 1940,[30] and the BritishOperation Colossus andOperation Biting, which were raids in Italy and France in 1941 and 1942.[31]
TheRoyal Air Force first used the term "raid" in theSecond World War when referring to anair attack. It included those by one aircraft or manysquadrons, against all manner of targets on the ground and the targets defending aircraft. "Raid" was different from "battle", which was used for land, sea, oramphibious conflict. An aircraft "raid" was always planned ahead of time. Aircraftpatrols (againstU-boats) and defensive launches of carrier aircraft (against recently detected enemy ships) are differentiated from raids.
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