"The least distinguished military units" Topic

How about a poll for the LEAST distinguished units ever. For example:

The Roman cataphracts at the Battle of Argentoratum (357) whose performance was so miserable that the Emperor Julian made them wear woman's clothes as punishment.

The 1st District Regiment that showed up at the Battle of South Mountain with two men, the rest of the regiment having deserted.

I dont have time to look it up just now – but I would vote for the allied cavalry that refused to charge at waterloo.

I think you may be thinking of the Duke of Cumberland's Hussars, a Hanoverian unit, that not only reused to charge but fled the field, spreading the somewhat premature news that the the battle had been lost all the way back to Brussels.

And speaking of retrograde action, I submit the Republic of Vietnam 3rd Infantry Division, which I suspect broke several world land speed records while running away from the NVA offensive in April 1972. I watched them do it; it wasn't pretty.

LT

How about the Brazilians in the Italian campaign in WW2?

And then there are a plethora of Arab units from 1948 onwards.

There's always the infamous Sassanid Persian levies, who were chained together at the ankles to make them stand during at least one battle.

Sams New Mac wrote:

How about the Brazilians in the Italian campaign in WW2?

How about them? What's "infamous" about the BEF? They didn't have to be there, but they turned up and fought, as far as I know quite successfully.

All the best,

John.

The Brazilians seemed to pull their weight. why pick on them? what about the US Marines running away at Bull Run

I'm with Mr Salt and His Grace the Cardinal on this one. Everything I've ever seen about the Cobras Fumantes indicates to me that they were fine troops. The Brazilian Air Force also did excellent work in Italy.

LT

There was a detachment of Neapolitan marines in the Napoleonic era who refused to board their own ship, in harbour, with no enemy anywhere nearby.

you have to love them Neopolitan Marines..

There was a US reserve or NG division in the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge that pretty much booked out without blinking. I forget which one now, but there's at least one book about them.

Varus' Legions?

Hessians in AWI?

13th SS Div.?

SS Nord(really screwed up in Finland)

british at Kut, WWI? (more the commanders' fault?)

Sundance, I hope you're not talking about the 106th. Lambs thrown to the wolves.

All US militia at Bladensburg in 1814?

My vote is for the US 27th Infantry Division, perhaps the least distingusihed infantry unit in both World Wars. In WWI they did poorly attacking the Hindenburg line at the St Quentin Canal. In WW2 their less than stellar performance at Makin Island, Saipan and Okinawa marked them as a decidedly below average unit. There are lots of interesting reasons for this long term status, but it has my vote (even though it was Grandpa's old unit).

The Royalist ECW garrison of Haverfordwest who ran away from a herd of cattle (it was dark, they thought it was Laugharne's cavalry). Unfortunatley their regimental composition remains obscure.

Has the Napoleonic Spanish panickining at their own volley and running away been de-bunked? We haven't had a good Napoleonics argument for at least 5 minutes…..

Any and all garrisons of Harper's Ferry. It must be something in the water.

Has the Napoleonic Spanish panickining at their own volley and running away been de-bunked? We haven't had a good Napoleonics argument for at least 5 minutes…..

Not debunked exactly…I was given a 'Severe Reprimand' to add to my collection for casually mentioning it was a Division that ran away at the sound of their own discharge, when careful research 'revealed' it was 'only' 4 Battalions who ran en masse…

My bad…

I love this site – 20 plus posts about crap units and nobody's yet had to retire to a darkened room because they are so really, terribly, utterly offended (cos their second cousins grandmother's cleaner came from the 'old country'…)

Or maybe they did, but just dind't feel the need to inform us all how offended they were, either way, respect…

Can't find the unit without rereading the book. The div or one of its regiments was headquartered in Sadzot, Belgium. As soon as they heard the Germans were on the move, they packed up and left, leaving a 4.2" mortar company to hold the line they had held. The mortarmen, later joined by part of the 509th PIB and men of another unit – variously identified as the 75 ID and the 28 ID – held the line and kept the Germans from advancing at that particular point.

Spanish cavalry at Medellin. They were ordered to charge, and instead fled with their tails between their legs, leaving open the right flank to a devastating French cavalry charge that cost the Spanish the battle and thousands of casualties among the infantry.

Varus's Legions? I think it was Barker in his 'Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome' that noted that few armies have ever done well when ambushed on the march in dense terrain by their supposed allies.

The entire Prussian Army after Jena. Couldn't surrender fast enough, except for the garrison at Colberg.

The French who surrendered at Fishguard when a small crowd of Welsh Women came to see what was happening down on the beach.

I love this site – 20 plus posts about crap units and nobody's yet had to retire to a darkened room because they are so really, terribly, utterly offended (cos their second cousins grandmother's cleaner came from the 'old country'…)

Well, that crack about the National Guard at the Battle of the Bulge did upset me, but then I realized that the poster was mistaking the gallant stand of the 28th (PA National Guard) for the crumbling of the bland identity-challenged 106th further north.

How about the Indians at Tanga in WWI that got scattered by wild bees.

YOU would stand there getting stung?

As one of the Indians said: "YOU should have seen the size of the bloody bees! I rather face a German Machinegun!"

Plus thoe Indian troops at Tanga were reserve units, badly fed and had just gotten off a cramped and wallowing troop transport.

You'd fight badly too.

I would say the least distinguished unit was my own regiment of Prussian Dragoons.

first game they charged some Russian hussars. Inflicted no casualties, lost only one themselves, promptly handed over their colours and routed!

I've been stung by a swarm of wasps before (not quite bees) and must say that I'm with the indians on this one… (altho admittedly there aren't many german machine guns to face via comparison these days).

None of the entries so far seem especially infamous to me, certainly none of the WW2 ones.

Not entirely in the interests of upsetting the Waffen-SS fanboys, I nominate the Dirlewanger Brigade. Commanded by a child-rapist, manned by criminals of all kinds, behaved atrociously even by SS standards, but was not terribly combat effective against people who were adequately equipped to shoot back.

All the best,

John.

Aren't they the guys who were held off by the Warsaw Polish Home Army who were heavily armed with cobblestones and, well, not much else?

Sparker

Yes, although the PHA was better armed that just cobblestones. It was the Jewish in the Ghetto Uprising which were so badly armed that it's amazing how long they managed to resist the Nazi onslaught.

Yes, a part of history that is both harrowing and inspirational, and one that we should never forget….

24th Infantry Regiment, US Army, Korea.

"When them Chink mortars begin to chug,
That old Deuce-Four begins to bug"
-----Bug-Out Boogie