"Best foreign tactics copied by Britain? " Topic

Thanks templar72 ,
I wonder if their 30 mil jams as much as the Raden.

Here's my film of a BMP:
YouTube link

Hmm, well, the Brits seemed to give up on the war chariot after Boudicea (sp?) lost to the Romans. Only to resurrect them in WWI and rename them "tanks."

Same use initially: as infantry tanks meant to accompany infantry assaults.

Ditching the vic to (essentially) copy the rotte and the schwarme?

Regards

As others have mentioned, the Boers taught the British 'no end of a lesson' (according to Rudyard Kipling).
While not always a case of copying, the changes which resulted from the two Boer Wars were remarkable – end of wearing scarlet or carrying colours for example, also the change in the role of cavalry and the importance of light horse / mounted infantry units. Though largely gifted amateurs, the Boers proved to be experts in the use of camoflage, barbed wire, dummy positions and entrenchments, and were inspired in their use of modern artillery, machine guns and the like. While the British certainly encountered such things in other places (the NW frontier, for example) the lessons of the Boer War were a real wake-up call for the British Army and can be argued to have made the BEF of 1914 as impressive as it was.
No less a man than Sir Winston Churchill paid the Boers the ultimate compliment by naming the British elite forces raised in WW2 'commando' units.

MBT from the Sovs & Germans (via T34 --> Panther)

Neither of these was an MBT and main battle tank was a post war concept.

No it was a post war term – the concept had already been invented with tanks that were capable of fulfilling both the "cruiser" and "support" roles that almso all nations started the war with.

I don't care whether the T34 and Panther were called MBT's – fact is they fulfilled the role, and EVERYONE learned from them.

For the period in question (1792-1815) the British learned the light infantry lesson from the French in Flanders in 1793-1795 and in Holland in 1799. This led directly to the training at Shorncliffe and the organizing of the 95th as well as the conversion of a few infantry regiments to light infnatry units.

Because of the foresight of Moore and some other officers, Wellington already had excellent tools to work with in the Peninsula.

Someone also mentioned lancers and that is also correct. The British converted four light dragoon regiments to lancers after having the nasty experience of running into them in Spain and in Belgium.

Sincerely,
K

I would suggest that the "light infantry lesson" was RE-learned in the Low Countries. As a veteran of the AWI, Moore was familiar with the "loose files" fighting style (that Dundas and others had thought would be inappropriate for Europe), and was ably assisted by fellow AWI vets, such as Dep Ajt-Gen Calvert, and Money (whose paper pointed out the massive alterations in the European landscape since Frederician times), and even the ageing Billy Howe.

Agree. And the light infantry lessons of the AWI were relearned from the French and Indian War.

However, there is considerable evidence that the light infantry 'response' was European and not from the wars in North America.

Sincerely,
K

They definitely learned their light infantry drill as a result of their experiences in North America. Just ask Bill Cosby: YouTube link

Bowmen were the original skirmisher – they were not in packed ranks and were not generally used to form part of the fighting line, they often operated on the flanks and in loose groups.When the musket came along this simply joined the bows. Only later after weapon and organisational improvements did the mass become fire armed.
So perhaps when talking about who 'invented' skirmishing or 'taught' another army about it this could be borne in mind.

We might also note that the basic books of light warfare were written by Jeney and Grandmaison (both French) in the 1750s. And the British napoleonic manual basically a third hand copy of those.

The British clearly learnt from service with the Swedes in the 30YW, where one of their main commanders was most annoyed to have been wounded by an Imperial skirmisher with his longe peece.
Also extended mercenary service with the Dutch culminating in wholesale adoption after the Dutch Guard took up long term residence in London.
Getting into Napoleonics their formed drill is plagiarised from the Prussians, their light infantry warfare from the French, (via Hessian), their hilltop positioning perhaps from the recent translation of Sun Tzu.

At times it may seem only the stiff upper lip; an accident of geography, being their own invention.

<<We might also note that the basic books of light warfare were written by Jeney and Grandmaison (both French) in the 1750s. And the British napoleonic manual basically a third hand copy of those.>>

There was also a manual on the petite guerre written by a British officer called Stevens (or Stephen) around the end of the SYW, based on his European service with freikorps etc, which seems to have been all but completely lost. The discipline and treatment of other ranks within Moore's Light Brigade, later Division, also owed much to the writings of Bouquet (Henri, rather than Hyacinth) when colonel of the 60th.

The 'original' skirmishers in the West were Greek and Roman light infantrymen.

Prior to that I have no doubt that the Egyptians and Hebrews had ligth infantry which their opponents also had.

Sincerely,
K