Bayonets in Basra - A Case Study on the Effects of Irregular Warfare

[redleg99]

This recently published report is about an incident which occurred in 2004, where a British platoon, low on ammo, conducted a bayonet charge.

Here is the summary:

In May 2004, approximately 20 British troops in Basra were ambushed and forced out of their vehicles by about 100 Shiite militia fighters. When ammunition ran low, the British troops fixed bayonets and charged the enemy. About 20 militiamen were killed in the assault without any British deaths.

The bayonet charge appeared to succeed for three main reasons. First, the attack was the first of its kind in that region and captured the element of surprise. Second, enemy fighters probably believed jihadist propaganda stating that coalition troops were cowards unwilling to fight in close combat, further enhancing the element of surprise. Third, the strict discipline of the British troops overwhelmed the ability of the militia fighters to organize a cohesive counteraction.

The effects of this tactical action in Basra are not immediately applicable elsewhere, but an important dominant theme emerges regarding the need to avoid predictable patterns of behavior within restrictive rules of engagement. Commanders should keep adversaries off balance with creative feints and occasional shows of force lest they surrender the initiative to the enemy.

While this incident is perhaps historically interesting, I don’t think the effectiveness of the bayonet is the take-away, however.

I think this is the important part:

At the least, this case study suggests the importance of changing tactics and procedures to keep enemy fighters off balance. Even within restrictive rules of engagement, commanders should seek periodic “spike” actions that prevent coalition procedures from becoming routine and easily predictive.

Read the whole report here (requires AKO access)
https://www.us.army.mil/suite/collaboration/GetDocument.do?doid=14903470

[Warrior-Mentor]

This was a great article and a testament to the Warrior Spirit.

[Richard]

It worked for Chamberlain at Little Roundtop, too, when faced with nearly certain defeat. The ability to improvise and the audacity to do the unexpected is - indeed - a part of the warrior spirit.

Thanks for the article.

Richard's $.02 :munchin

[SF_BHT]

That is why we have never given up the bayonet as a regular part of an infantryman's kit.

The old saying never bring a knife to a gunfight is great until you use up all your ammo.

Probably a skill that we as US Infantrymen should practice a little bit more as you never know when you will need it.

Good for our British Brothers in Arms. Thanks for the post Good Read.

[HOLLiS]

They also did one during the Falkland war. I read in a field manual (I think, when I was kid) when all else fails, charge. I guess the most important part is, "It worked". Amazing job.

[Dozer523]

I remember a Mech Battalion Commander in Germany in my early days. He was very proud of his time with the 82nd, a tour with the British Paras, and his time as a Company Commander in Vietnam (and rightly so). At his Change of Command we fixed bayonets just before the Pass in Review. Here is The Manual of Arms.

Fix Bayonets
a. The command to fix or unfix bayonets is given from order arms only. The movement is executed in a military manner but not in cadence
b. To fix bayonets, the command is Fix, BAYONETS. On the command of execution BAYONETS, grasp the rifle barrel with the right hand, raise the rifle slightly, and place the butt of the rifle between the feet, with the magazine well to the front. Grasp the rifle barrel with the left hand and move the muzzle to the left front. With the right hand, unsnap the scabbard securing strap and withdraw the bayonet. Keeping the eyes on the bayonet point, turn the point skyward and attach the bayonet to the rifle. To engage the bayonet stud on the rifle with the base of the bayonet, grasp the handle, apply downward pressure until a click is heard, and then apply limited upward pressure to ensure that the bayonet is seated securely. Re snap the scabbard securing strap with the right hand and then come to order arms.

We did it a tiny bit different, we practiced it over and over and over and over . . . until we did it in unison as a six count movement , with “, apply downward pressure until a click is heard,” as one. Hearing the command "FIX . . . BAYONETS" is awesome (or a little silly from a mech point of view) BUT, when you hear 500 + bayonets snapping into action as one, your blood runs cold.

On 523 our Team Sergeant loved ambushes and the Final Assault across the Objective. We always fixed bayonets. At that point (even in training) I knew this was no longer about good sight pictures, controlled fire, proper magazine changes etc, etc. As I came up it was only about killing the enemy. And I think that throughout history, anyone hearing that command, hearing that click, or seeing steel on end of a weapon knows it can only end with him or me. And the guy with the bayonet has already decided who its going to be.

[The Reaper]

And I think that throughout history, anyone hearing that command, hearing that click, or seeing steel on end of a weapon knows it can only end with him or me. And the guy with the bayonet has already decided who its going to be.

The guy with a loaded weapon, and the motivation to stand his ground?

TR

[incarcerated]

Thanks to Bryan Suits for the word on this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6178044/British-officer-wins-two-gallantry-awards-for-fending-off-Taliban-attack-with-bayonet.html

British officer wins two gallantry awards for fending off Taliban attack with bayonet

A young British officer, Lieutenant James Adamson, who won two gallantry awards while serving in Afghanistan has told how he fended off an enemy attack by bayoneting a Taliban fighter to death.
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
Published: 9:00PM BST 12 Sep 2009
Lieutenant James Adamson was awarded the Military Cross after killing two insurgents during close quarter combat in Helmand's notorious "Green Zone".

The 24-year-old officer, a member of the 5th battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, revealed that he shouted "have some of this" before shooting dead a gunman who had just emerged from a maize field.

Seconds later and out of ammunition, the lieutenant leapt over a river bank and killed a second insurgent machine-gunner with a single thrust of his bayonet in the man's chest.

The officer was one of 145 members of the armed services who last week received awards in the latest Operational Honours list.

In a graphic description of the intense fighting in Helmand, the officer told of the moment killed the second fighter. He said: "It was a split second decision.

"I either wasted vital seconds changing the magazine on my rifle or went over the top and did it more quickly with the bayonet.

"I took the second option. I jumped up over the bank of the river. He was just over the other side, almost touching distance.

"We caught each other's eye as I went towards him but by then, for him, it was too late. There was no inner monologue going on in my head I was just reacting in the way that I was trained.

"He was alive when it went in – he wasn't alive when it came out – it was that simple."

Recalling his feelings in the moments afterwards Lt Adamson, said: "He was young, with dark hair. He only had kind of whispy hair on his chin, not a proper beard, so he wasn't that old, maybe a teenager.

"Afterwards, when he was dead, I picked up his PKM (Russian-made belt-fed machine gun) machine gun and slung it over my back.

"We then had to wait for more of my men to join us. We thought there could be more Taliban about and we were just watching our arcs of fire, waiting for more to come out of a big field of maize which came right up to the river we had been wading through.

"One of my men, Corporal Billy Carnegie, reached us, looked at the two dead Taliban on the ground and then saw the blood on my bayonet and said "boss what the **** have you been doing?"

The firefight, in July 2008, began during the middle an operation to push the Taliban out of an area close to the town of Musa Qala in northern Helmand.

Lt Adamson's platoon of 25-men, which was leading the assault, had just halted their advance when they were attacked.

Lt Adamson, who is single and comes from the Isle of Man, was moving between two eight man sections when a group of Taliban fighters attempted a flanking attack.

He continued: "The Taliban kept on probing us – sending in fighters to attack, first in twos then in fours.

"There was a gap between the two sections and the Taliban realised this and were sending in men to get between the two groups so they could split us up and isolate us.

"Myself and Corporal Fraser 'Hammy' Hamilton were wading nipple deep down a river which connected the two positions. Hammy was ahead when the Taliban fighter with the PKM (Russian machine gun) appeared from a maize field.

"There was an exchange of fire and 'Hammy' fired off his ammunition and then the weight of fire coming from the Taliban forced him under the water.

"The machine-gunner had also gone to ground but was still firing in our direction periodically. I had just caught up when 'Hammy' came up out of the water like a monster of the deep.

"Then another Taliban man came through the maize carrying an AK47. He was only three to four metres away.

"I immediately shot him with a burst from my rifle which was already set on automatic. He went down straight away and I knew I had hit him.

"Hammy said I shouted: 'have some of this' as I shot him but I can't remember that. I fired another burst at the PKM gunner and then that was me out of ammunition as well.

"That was when I decided to use the bayonet on him. It was a case of one second to bayonet him or two seconds to put on a fresh magazine.

"Nothing was really going through my mind but briefly I did think 'if this works out the boys will love it' – as in the rest of the platoon that I commanded.

"The undergrowth is so dense in the 'Green zone' that I often ordered bayonets fixed because you knew the distances between you and the Taliban could be very short. It is also good for morale."

His Military Cross citation read: "Adamson's supreme physical courage, combined with the calm leadership he continued to display after a very close encounter with the Taliban, were of the very highest order.

"His actions also neutralised an enemy flanking attack which could have resulted in casualties for his platoon."

Two weeks earlier Lt Adamson had won a Mention in Dispatches (MID) by leading his men in an ambush against the Taliban in the same area.

It is understood that the young lieutenant is the first member of the armed forces to receive two awards for gallantry during the same operational tour.