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Date	Original Topic
16th January 2005	british battle technics By kieran hi all again here my next post what did u think was the best british tactic at the time mine i think was the ranks and the volley fire i just love how they do it
Date	Replies
17th January 2005	Paul Cubbin 'The Thin Red Line' has been synonymous with British infantry since the stand of Sir Colin Campbell's 93rd Highlanders at the battle of Balaclava. Long before the phrase was actually coined British 'Redcoats' were famous the world over for their discipline, marksmanship and rate of fire in thin ranks. Time and again these tactics helped to defeat Napoleon's previously invincible armies in the Peninsular War at then at Waterloo. Even earlier, Marlborough was crushing the French a century before with superior maneuver and the concentration and application of superior firepower in the right time and place. In the Anglo-Zulu War Khambula (or Rorkes Drift even) was probably its most successful application, with Ulundi being its final, crushing victory. In my mind, nothing sums up the power of superior firepower and discipline over poorly armed native opponents as succinctly as the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. Its well worth looking at Kieran, if only for the entertaining account of a British cavalry charge against a vastly numerically superior enemy...by an easily forgotten wee lad who later went on to be a polititian or something. I think he also did car insurance commercials...
17th January 2005	Martin Boyle British infantry firepower stood the army in good stead in the early days of the First World War, too. Paul, Tony Blair wasn't at Omdurman.
18th January 2005	Paul Cubbin Martin - No, I believe Tony Blair was in Khartoum with General Gordon (Brown) and was later relieved by a fortunate election result (and a pair of Cairo dancing girls).
18th January 2005	Martin Boyle Right you are, Paul. I'll take your word for it.