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{{Short description|Ad hoc small, independent, combined-arms military unit}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Hogan's Flying Column.gif|300px|thumb|[[Seán Hogan]]'s #2 Flying Column, [[Third Tipperary Brigade]], during the [[Irish War of Independence]].]]
[[File:West Connemara Flying Column 1922.jpg|thumb|West Connemara Flying Column 1922]]
{{army units}}
A '''flying column''' is a small, independent, [[Military formation|military land unit]] capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of [[Combined arms|all arms]]. It is often an ''[[ad hoc]]'' unit, formed during the course of operations.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=585}}

The term is usually, though not necessarily, applied to forces less than the strength of a [[brigade]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=585}} As mobility is its primary purpose, a flying column is accompanied by the minimum of equipment. It generally uses suitable fast transport; historically, horses were used, with trucks and helicopters replacing them in modern times.

==History==

Flying columns are mentioned by [[Sun Tzu]] in his ''[[Art of War]]'' in such a fashion that indicates it was not a new concept at the time of his writing. This dates to at least the middle 6th century BC, and possibly the late 8th century BC.{{Citation needed|reason=I don't remember ever reading of this in his works. Can you specify where please?|date=August 2023}}

The [[Roman army]] made good use of the flying columns in the early imperial era. One such commander, the [[proconsul]] [[Germanicus|Germanicus Caesar]] used flying columns to great effect in the early stages of the campaign against one of Rome's greatest enemies, [[Arminius]]. Scouts, raiders, and [[Screening (tactical)|screening]] forces were used against the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes responsible for destroying three Roman legions (the 17th, 18th, and 19th) in the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]].

[[Boer Commando|Boer ''kommandos'']] in 17th–20th-century [[South Africa]] may be regarded as a form of flying column (unlike [[commando]]s in the more recent sense).{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} The mobile columns employed against Boer forces, by [[British Empire]] forces in the [[Second Boer War|South African War]] of 1899–1902, were usually of the strength of two [[battalion]]s of [[infantry]], a battery of [[artillery]], and a squadron of [[cavalry]], almost exactly half that of a [[Mixed brigade]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=585}}

Flying columns have also been used in [[guerrilla warfare]], notably the mobile armed units of the [[Irish Republican Army]] during the [[Irish War of Independence]] 1919–1921.{{sfn|BBC staff|2011}}During this period, the most successful Irish flying columns in terms of casualties inflicted on the police and military were the west Connemara, the south Mayo and the west Mayo column under the command of [[Michael Kilroy]].<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Crowley | editor-first=John | editor-last2=Ó Drisceoil | editor-first2=Donal | editor-last3=Murphy | editor-first3=Michael | editor-last4=Borgonovo | editor-first4=John | editor-last5=Hogan | editor-first5=Nick | title=Atlas of the Irish Revolution | publisher = NYU Press | publication-place=New York | date=2017 | isbn=978-1-4798-3428-0 | oclc=1001466881}}</ref>

In 1919, Polish officer [[Stanisław Maczek]] created a flying company made of a battle-hardened infantry, using horses for mobility, and a lot of machineguns for fire power. They were part of the [[4th Infantry Division (Poland)]].

In the 1920s, [[Defence Scheme No. 1]], the proposed Canadian response to an [[War Plan Red|invasion]] by the United States, [[James Sutherland Brown|Lt. Col. James "Buster" Brown]] suggested "immediate dispatch of flying columns on the declaration of war"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19751217&id=lfcLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=91cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5040,363043|title=The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=13 April 2018|archive-date=10 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510054638/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19751217&id=lfcLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=91cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5040,363043|url-status=live}}</ref> in order to counter-invade across the border and enact a [[scorched earth|scorched earth policy]], forcing the US to divert military resources towards the defense of its northern cities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txyUtjVfi6w|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com|access-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217062258/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txyUtjVfi6w|archive-date=17 February 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

During and shortly after the [[Anglo-Iraqi War]] of 1941, British forces employed flying columns code-named ''[[Kingcol]]'', ''[[Mercol]]'' and ''[[Gocol]]''. ''Kingcol'' advanced into Iraq from [[Emirate of Transjordan|Jordan]] and [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]].

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Jock column]]
* [[Combe Force]]
* [[Durruti Column]]
* [[Long Range Desert Group]]
* [[Kampfgruppe]]
}}

==Notes==
{{more citations needed|date=March 2013}}
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{Citation|author=BBC staff |year=2011 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/ashorthistory/archive/intro224.shtml |title=A Short History of Ireland: Terror and Reprisal |publisher=BBC Northern Ireland. |access-date=7 June 2011}}

'''Attribution:'''
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Flying column|volume=10|page=585}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | author=Jim Maher | title=The Flying Column – West Kilkenny 1916–1921| publisher=Geography Publications| year=1988}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Column}}
[[Category:Land warfare]]
[[Category:Irish War of Independence]]
[[Category:Guerrilla wars]]
[[Category:Second Boer War]]