The Defence of Duffer's Drift; 86-.3572/12061

Fort Leavenworth, KS: US Army Command and General Staff College, 1986. Reprint. Wraps. Good. 72 pages. Wraps. Illustrations. Maps. Short history and glossary of the Boer War. Major-General Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton, KBE, CB, DSO (21 October 1868 - 15 January 1951) was a British Army officer who played a part in the development and adoption of the tank during the First World War. He was also a war correspondent and author of several allegorical works of fiction on military themes, including a lastingly influential book on tactics and good practice. He is credited, along with fellow officer Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Dally Jones, with having initiated the use of the word "tank" as a code-name for the first tracked, armored fighting vehicles. This imaginative classic on small unit tactics, set at the time of the Boer War, challenges the reader to walk in the boots of a British lieutenant who must decide how to defend a shallow river crossing with a fifty-man platoon. This new edition retains the original text, but adds maps and illustrations that highlight the action. The Defence of Duffer's Drift purports to be a series of six dreams by "Lieutenant Backsight Forethought" about the defence of a river crossing in the Boer War. The infantry tactics in the early dreams are disastrous, but each time BF learns something until in the final defence he is successful. Lieutenant Backsight Forethought and his command of fifty men are given the task to defend Duffer's Drift, a natural ford to a river. A large force of Boers, unknown to BF, is moving toward his position. This scenario is played out six separate times, in six "dreams." In the early scenarios, BF and his British troops are ignominiously defeated. After each defeat, BF learns lessons and adapts his strategy for the later encounters. In the final dream, BF and his command successfully hold out long enough to be relieved. The book encourages critical thinking and careful use of position and terrain to mount a successful defence. The book is still considered relevant and interesting in modern times.