Download or read book The RAF and Tribal Control written by Richard D. Newton and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2019-11-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In light of technological advances and multiplying irregular conflicts, conventional wisdom suggests airpower as the ideal, low-cost means of conducting modern warfare—and the air control method adopted by the British between the two world wars seems to back this up. Swift and precise targeting from above was considered more humane, after all, sparing civilians as well as British soldiers during punitive expeditions in unruly colonial regions. But what conventional wisdom misses, and this book makes clear, is how the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) innovative approach actually worked—relying on British airmen on the ground at least as much as on airborne technology to control restive tribes and villages. The RAF and Tribal Control tells the story of these forgotten airmen, the RAF special service officers who, embedded among local populations and indigenous tribes, collected vital intelligence, developed targets, directed air strikes when necessary, and, perhaps most important, provided personal assessments of airpower’s qualitative effects against primarily guerrilla forces. Airpower is a highly technological endeavor. But in wars where the human dimension takes primacy, Richard Newton reminds us that measuring the effectiveness of air actions requires a qualitative approach that is nearly impossible via overhead sensors. And this is where the RAF special service officers came in—airmen who understood the local cultures and peoples, they served as conduits for information and communication between the colonial administration and the tribes and villages. It was their ground-level contributions that made the integration of airpower into the civilian administration of colonies and mandates possible. This first in-depth account of the RAF special service officers’ role brings to light previously unpublished insights. The RAF and Tribal Control fills a significant gap in the history of air warfare. In doing so, the book dispels the notion that airpower alone is effective in small wars and irregular conflicts—and reveals the importance of the “boots-on-the-ground” human component in waging unconventional air warfare, both in the days of the RAF’s vaunted air control and in our own time.
Download or read book Air power and colonial control written by David Enrico Omissi and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-01 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Guardians of Empire written by David Killingray and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For imperialists, the concept of guardian is specifically to the armed forces that kept watch on the frontiers and in the heartlands of imperial territories. Large parts of Asia and Africa, and the islands of the Pacific and the Caribbean were imperial possessions. This book discusses how military requirements and North Indian military culture, shaped the cantonments and considers the problems posed by venereal diseases and alcohol, and the sanitary strategies pursued to combat them. The trans-border Pathan tribes remained an insistent problem in Indian defence between 1849 and 1947. The book examines the process by which the Dutch elite recruited military allies, and the contribution of Indonesian soldiers to the actual fighting. The idea of naval guardianship as expressed in the campaign against the South Pacific labour trade is examined. The book reveals the extent of military influence of the Schutztruppen on the political developments in the German protectorates in German South-West Africa and German East Africa. The U.S. Army, charged with defending the Pacific possessions of the Philippines and Hawaii, encountered a predicament similar to that of the mythological Cerberus. The regimentation of military families linked access to women with reliable service, and enabled the King's African Rifles to inspire a high level of discipline in its African soldiers, askaris. The book explains the political and military pressures which drove successive French governments to widen the scope of French military operations in Algeria between 1954 and 1958. It also explores gender issues and African colonial armies.
Download or read book The Royal Air Force Volume 2 written by Ian Philpott and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2006-07-20 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume II of this mammoth reference work covers the years in which the League of Nations failed because of the emerging dictatorships in Germany and Italy and the expansionist policies adopted by Japan. Britain was still reeling from the consequences of World War I and the RAF was sadly far behind the other major world powers in aircraft design, still relying on bi-planes that were direct descendants of World War I thinking. It gradually became apparent that, despite UK government dithering, the RAF needed to develop new aircraft, engines and increase production to confront the bully-boy tactics of the Axis powers. As the turn of the decade approached extraordinary measures were taken to enable RAF to defend Britain's skies and this her freedom. As with Volume 1, this book covers every conceivable part of the RAF's history through these pre-War days. It looks at the development and invention of new equipment such as radar, monoplane fighters, metal construction and the heavy bomber. This was an era when science in aviation was rushing ahead and fortunately for Britain's freedom, it laid the foundations of victory in 1.945
Download or read book The Army in India and the Development of Frontier Warfare 1849 1947 written by T. Moreman and published by Springer. This book was released on 1998-08-10 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive study is the first scholarly account explaining how the British and Indian armies adapted to the peculiar demands of fighting an irregular tribal opponent in the mountainous no-man's-land between India and Afghanistan. It does so by discussing how a tactical doctrine of frontier fighting was developed and 'passed on' to succeeding generations of soldiers. As this book conclusively demonstrates this form of colonial warfare always exerted a powerful influence on the organisation, equipment, training and ethos of the Army in India.
Download or read book Modern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies written by Kaushik Roy and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-08-25 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a historical study of the theory and praxis of modern insurgencies and counterinsurgencies (COIN). Modern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies: A Global History shows that the insurgents can wage a variety of conflicts: at times conventional war which lies at the high end of their spectrum, and terrorism which is located at the lowest end of their scale. When insurgencies reach a certain critical threshold, the insurgents shift their strategy from guerrilla (irregular) war to conventional (regular) war, and at that point the level of conflict escalates to the level of civil war. When the insurgents face intense state repression, they revert to terrorist activities. When the insurgents wage guerrilla war, they can be called guerrillas. The variety of wars conducted by the insurgents is termed as unconventional war. This volume demonstrates that the insurgents in the modern world had been motivated by a trinity: greed, grievances and ideology. Kaushik Roy traces the origin of modern insurgencies and COIN from the sixteenth century by focusing on regions outside Western Eurasia. He also touches on the twin interrelated phenomena of modern insurgencies and COIN metastasising into something new at the beginning of the Information Revolution at the end of the twentieth century. This volume will be of interest to researchers and research students of history, British Empire, imperial studies, Asian studies, security studies, strategic studies, and war and conflict studies.
Download or read book Waging War in Waziristan written by Andrew M. Roe and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A career soldier with on-the-ground experience presents a gripping history of the imperial British experience in Waziristan, a remote area of Pakistan. Distills the hard-earned British experience and offers some potentially useful lessons for the West and its current troubles in the same region--once described as the "epicenter of terrorism" and reputedly the hiding place of Osama bin Laden.
Download or read book Empires of Intelligence written by Martin Thomas and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Empires of Intelligence' argues that colonial control in British and French empires depended on an elabroate security apparatus. Thomas shows the crucial role of intelligence gathering in maintaining imperial control in the years before decolonization.
Download or read book Understanding Contemporary Air Power written by Viktoriya Fedorchak and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-06 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to explain air power to both military and civilian audiences in an accessible manner, approaching the topic in a balanced and systematic way. The past 100 years illustrates that air power is an inevitable feature of any type of modern warfare. It has a key role to play in any of the three main operational environments: conventional (inter-state) wars, peace-support operations, and counterinsurgencies. This book examines the strengths and challenges of using air power in these situations, and each type of operation is explained using modern and historical examples, with an emphasis on the relevant lessons for the contemporary and future use of air power. The book also looks into the complexity of media coverage of air warfare and changes in the public perception of air power in recent years. The specifics of structuring national air forces is also discussed, along with the future of air power based on current trends. One of the enduring themes in the book is the necessity of inter-service and cross-domain integration, emphasizing the increasingly important role of cyber and space domains in the future of network-centric warfare. This book will be essential reading for students of air power and air warfare, and recommended reading for students of international security, strategic studies, defence studies, and foreign policy.
Download or read book The Royal Air Force Re Armament 1930 to 1939 written by Ian M. Philpott and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2006-07-20 with total page 1206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume II of this mammoth reference work covers the years in which the League of Nations failed because of the emerging dictatorships in Germany and Italy and the expansionist policies adopted by Japan. Britain was still reeling from the consequences of World War I and the RAF was sadly far behind the other major world powers in aircraft design, still relying on bi-planes that were direct descendants of World War I thinking. It gradually became apparent that, despite UK government dithering, the RAF needed to develop new aircraft, engines and increase production to confront the bully-boy tactics of the Axis powers. As the turn of the decade approached extraordinary measures were taken to enable RAF to defend Britain's skies and this her freedom. As with Volume 1, this book covers every conceivable part of the RAF's history through these pre-War days. It looks at the development and invention of new equipment such as radar, monoplane fighters, metal construction and the heavy bomber. This was an era when science in aviation was rushing ahead and fortunately for Britain's freedom, it laid the foundations of victory in 1.943
Download or read book Wings of Empire written by Barry Renfrew and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2015-12-10 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the end of the First World War, British power in the colonies was at an all-time low. That was until a ragtag band of visionaries, including Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence, proposed that the aeroplane, the wonder weapon of the age, could save the empire. Using the radical strategy of air control, the RAF tried to subdue vast swathes of the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Wings of Empire is a compelling account of the colonial air campaigns that saw a generation of young airmen take to the skies to battle against warlords, jihadists and hostile tribes. For the first time ever, this book chronicles the full story of the RAF's most extraordinary conflict.
Download or read book The Geographies of War written by Jeremy Black and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2023-01-30 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A global history of the geography of war from antiquity to modern and contemporary conflict illustrated and brought to life by histories of inter-state war, geopolitical rivalry, 'hot' and 'cold' war and terrorism. Geography is a basic element in all stages of war including preparation, planning, onset of conflict, waging wars, assessment of results, post-conflict negotiations, analysis and preparation for future conflict. Geography is the vital element in strategy and tactics, and in the spatial context, on land, water and space. It is central to all historical activities from human and animal transport to wind power, coal, seam, oil, jet propulsion atomic weaponry and the threat of cyber conflict. This is essentially a 'modern geography', and not only physical, but political social, economic, cultural and 'human', with emphasis on personal experience. And technical mapping is included - the author's particular expertise - and accessible to specialist and general readers. A global history of the geographies of war in the context of great power geopolitics to local conflicts.
Download or read book Joint Operational Warfare written by Milan N. Vego and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 1496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smallholder farmers and pastoralists fulfil an invaluable yet undervalued role in conserving biodiversity. They act as guardians of locally adapted livestock breeds that can make use of even marginal environments under tough climatic conditions and therefore are a crucial resource for food security. But in addition, by sustaining animals on natural vegetation and as part of local ecosystems, these communities also make a significant contribution to the conservation of wild biodiversity and of cultural landscapes. This publication provides a glimpse into the often intricate knowledge systems that pastoralists and smallholder farmers have developed for the management of their breeds in specific production systems and it also describes the multitude of threats and challenges these often marginalized communities have to cope with.
Download or read book Empire and Tribe in the Afghan Frontier Region written by Hugh Beattie and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-19 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Waziristan, a region on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, has in recent years become a flash point in the so-called 'War on Terror'. Hugh Beattie looks at the history of this region, examining British attempts to manage the tribes from 1849 until Pakistan's declaration of independence in 1947. He explores British attempts to divide the frontier region into separate British and Afghan spheres of influence. In the minds of British policymakers, this demarcation would secure the position of the Empire, and so Beattie highlights the various policy initiatives towards the frontier region over the period in question. Crucially, he analyses how the British perceived the local tribes, what constituted authority within tribal frameworks, and the military and political ramifications of these perceptions. As he also explores the contemporary relevance of this region, taking into account the resurgence of the Taliban in Waziristan, Beattie's analysis is vital for those interested in the history and security implications of the Afghan frontier with Pakistan.
Download or read book Imperial Defence written by Greg Kennedy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-11-21 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new collection of essays, from leading British and Canadian scholars, presents an excellent insight into the strategic thinking of the British Empire. It defines the main areas of the strategic decision-making process that was known as 'Imperial Defence'. The theme is one of imperial defence and defence of empire, so chapters will be historiographical in nature, discussing the major features of each key component of imperial defence, areas of agreement and disagreement in the existing literature on critical interpretations, introducing key individuals and positions and commenting on the appropriateness of existing studies, as well as identifying a raft of new directions for future research.
Download or read book The Making of Jordan written by Yoav Alon and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2007-03-30 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the beginning of the 20th Century Jordan, like much of the Middle East, was a loose collection of tribes. By the time of its independence in 1946 it had the most firmly embedded state structures in the Arab world. Drawing on previously untapped sources, Yoav Alon examines how the disparate clan networks of Jordan were integrated into the Hashemite monarchy, with the help of the British colonial administrators. Taking a grassroot perspective, Alon looks at how the weak state institutions introduced by the Ottomans developed in British-administered Jordan. He shows how these institutions co-opted the structures of tribal society, and produced a distinctive hybrid between modern statehood and tribal confederacy which still characterises Jordan to this day. Key figures emerge in the story of Jordan's transformation, such as John Glubb, the charismatic Arab Legion commander who perceived the power of the nomadic tribes and sought to harness it to imperial Britain's statebuilding agenda. Alon's innovative approach to the origins of modern Jordan provides fresh insights not only into Jordan itself but into colonialism, modernity and the development of the state in the Middle East.
Download or read book Defence from the Skies 80 Years of the Indian Air Force written by and published by KW Publishers Pvt Ltd. This book was released on 2013-08-15 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indian Air Force now completes 80 years since it was formed as an independent component of India’s armed forces. Time and again, the air force has performed magnificently even against severe odds, and built up a professional reputation that is the envy of leading air forces of the word. This volume, as the Second Edition of the earlier volume published in 2007 has been extensively revised and updated. Air Forces are unique in the sense that they are the only national military institution exclusively devoted to military operations in the aerospace continuum. The Indian Air Force is no different. But their dominant role in modern warfare, the high costs of aerospace power, and a host of other factors demand closer attention to their role in modern defence and the protection of national interests. Air Forces don’t win wars by themselves; and no one in the Indian Air Force has ever claimed it. But no war can be won without them. We learnt that seminal lesson the hard way when we did not use the potent force of the IAF’s combat fleet in the Sino-Indian War of 1962. It is from this perspective that this study — or rather an interpretative essay reflecting on the significant issues and events of the past 80 years — approaches the challenges the Indian Air Force faces in the coming decades. IAF combat force levels have slumped while its commitments are rapidly growing in consonance with our expanding economic and political interests well beyond our territorial boundaries.
