books about histroical military figures- fought unconventional wars

[sean m]

Hello

I was wondering if anyone here has read any good books of famous military figures who fought unconventional wars.

Here are some names who are more synonymous with historical un- conventional warfare ex; Orde Wingate, T.E. Lawrence, Che Guevarra, Vo Nguyen Giap. I was wondering if anyone has read any books about them. I was also wondering if anyone here could suggest some good books about unconventional warfare and more individuals who are famed for fighting unconventional wars.

Thank you

 

[Michael OLeary]

You need to be more precise in establishing what you are looking for. Simply reading about campaigns that you consider "unconventional warfare" won't necessarily present useful data for someone who is looking for information on which to build a modern understanding of warfare.  Keep in mind that in Canada today, we have a generation of combat-experienced soldiers for whom counter-insurgency operations is "normal modern warfare."  To them, in their real experience, divisions of tanks and massed artillery is unconventional.

Books about (or by) T.E. Lawrence, like “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, are nice to read, but they can  encapsulate little real information on soldiering or campaigning.  Try "The Great War in Africa" by Farwell to see how "conventionally trained " (for their era) soldiers on both sides fought in an environment well removed from the “conventional" climate, density of troops and nature of tactics of the day.

For a modern warrior who is getting experience today in Counter-Insurgency (COIN) Operations, recommended reading on "unconventional warfare” (to him or her) might be "Soviet Air-Land Battle Tactics” by William Baker. Reading about campaigns on the Northwest Frontier wouldn't be offering anything new.

But a modern "warrior" should also be prepared to expand their horizons well beyond simply trying to get tactics and approaches out of narrative presentations of battles and campaigns.  The breadth of subjects applicable to a modern military career is endless:

"On the Psychology of Military Incompetence: by Nor man Dixon
"On Killing" and "On Combat" by Grossman
"Castles, battles and Bombs" by Brauer and Van Tuyll
Anything by Norman Dupuy: "Numbers, Predictions and War", "Understanding War, "Understanding Defeat”

The trick is, don't accept any book as a singular truth. Always challenge the common view and be ready to seek our first principles to establish its veracity to yourself, or to build a new understanding. Dig deeper than common understanding:

"Battle Tactics of the Western Front" by Paddy Griffith
"Mud Blood and Poppycock" by Gordon Corrigan

COIN may be the spirit of the day. But within the next decade or so it is the soldiers who have also studied what you are referring to a "conventional warfare" that will bring a second opinion to the table.

 

[Danjanou]

Ok let's establish one ground rule. Let's not lump Ernesto Che Guevera in with the others as some sort of guru of COIN ops.

Che was a spoiled little rich kid brat who Fidel took along on the Granma as the medic when he returned to Cuba. After losing most of his men soon after landing, Fidel had to employ Che as a rifleman and eventually as a sub unit commander based solely on the fact he was literate and most of Fidel's recruits were not.

While I will not dispute he had brass ones, as evidenced by his attack at Santa Clara, he was no jungle Guederian. His solo campaign in the Escambray Mountains was a fracking disaster and his column had to be saved more than once from being slaughter by either Morgan's and/or Camillo Cienfuego's columns.

His two post Cuban Revolution guerrilla war campaigns in the Congo and later Bolivia read more like Monty Python does James Bond then anything else. In the Congo he repeatedly was handed his fifth point of contact by Mike Hoare's 5 Commando, and in Bolivia he managed to get his entire command lost in the mountains and wandering around starving, before being captured and then executed pleading on his knees for his life like someone's *****.

There that over the good Mr.O'Leary (as always) has given us a start point. Now can we narrow down your interests, first timelines, are you interested in the counter insurgency ops of the past such as those conducted here in North America in the 17th -19th Centuries and/or Spain during the period that country was occupied by Napoleon's armies? The Anglo Boer experiences?

Post WW2 offers several areas to look at with most Western powers involved in conflicts around the world against insurgencies often against former colonies. Indonesia, Indo China, Malaya, Aden, Mozambique, Angola, Congo, Rhodesia, Namibia, Algeria, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Afghanistan, to name a few.

Now are you interested in reading accounts written by the insurgents and their leaders or those who combated said insurgencies?

Edit to fix mong typing.

 

[Old Sweat]

I would also recommend a more conventional campaign that was conducted in a "unconventional" manner. Have a look at the British campaign in the Western Desert in late 1940 and early 1941. Despite being heavily outnumbered and short of just about every major item of equipment, the British commander, General Sir Archibald Wavell, mounted an offensive that drove the Italian forces out of their prepared defences and back across Libya and nearly into the ocean. It all came to naught because of the requirement to go to the aid of Greece, and the arrival in Africa of Rommel and what became the Afrika Korps. Still, it is worth studying as an example of how to seize the initiative and how to concentrate inferior forces to achieve local superiority time after time.

And as a postscript, don't write off the Italians as soldiers. While this was going on, their forces in Eritria and Ethiopia were giving the Brits a very hard time. That is another campaign that merits a look if time permits.

I also second Danjanou's comments re Che Guevera. His reputation is based on mythology and silkscreening.

 

[Danjanou]

OS IIRC the Ethiopian campaign, also run on a shoe string, was where Wingate got his start as a master of unconventional warfare and the deep penetration of a column behind the lines tactics.

 

[Old Sweat]

OS IIRC the Ethiopian campaign, also run on a shoe string, was where Wingate got his start as a master of unconventional warfare
and tghe deep penetration of a column behind the lines tactics.

I think you are correct. A number of generals who did very well in Burma fought in this campaign including Slim and Messervy as well as Wingate.

 

[sean m]

Sorry for the confusion, I was looking for books about soldiers with experience such as Lawrence and Giap. Men who entered into neutrel or even hostile territory (which is more what Lawrence did) and interacted with the local population. I was hoping to build an understanding of how it is developed and to understand more of what the important aspects are. Thank you for the list of books and your right about the need to review still "conventional warfare" or the typeof warfare this term was used for more. 

You need to be more precise in establishing what you are looking for. Simply reading about campaigns that you consider "unconventional warfare" won't necessarily present useful data for someone who is looking for information on which to build a modern understanding of warfare.  Keep in mind that in Canada today, we have a generation of combat-experienced soldiers for whom counter-insurgency operations is "normal modern warfare."  To them, in their real experience, divisions of tanks and massed artillery is unconventional.

Books about (or by) T.E. Lawrence, like “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, are nice to read, but they can  encapsulate little real information on soldiering or campaigning.  Try "The Great War in Africa" by Farwell to see how "conventionally trained " (for their era) soldiers on both sides fought in an environment well removed from the “conventional" climate, density of troops and nature of tactics of the day.

For a modern warrior who is getting experience today in Counter-Insurgency (COIN) Operations, recommended reading on "unconventional warfare” (to him or her) might be "Soviet Air-Land Battle Tactics” by William Baker. Reading about campaigns on the Northwest Frontier wouldn't be offering anything new.

But a modern "warrior" should also be prepared to expand their horizons well beyond simply trying to get tactics and approaches out of narrative presentations of battles and campaigns.  The breadth of subjects applicable to a modern military career is endless:

"On the Psychology of Military Incompetence: by Nor man Dixon
"On Killing" and "On Combat" by Grossman
"Castles, battles and Bombs" by Brauer and Van Tuyll
Anything by Norman Dupuy: "Numbers, Predictions and War", "Understanding War, "Understanding Defeat”

The trick is, don't accept any book as a singular truth. Always challenge the common view and be ready to seek our first principles to establish its veracity to yourself, or to build a new understanding. Dig deeper than common understanding:

"Battle Tactics of the Western Front" by Paddy Griffith
"Mud Blood and Poppycock" by Gordon Corrigan

COIN may be the spirit of the day. But within the next decade or so it is the soldiers who have also studied what you are referring to a "conventional warfare" that will bring a second opinion to the table.

 

[sean m]

It is true, people most likely think so highly of him since he is famous. Yet the missions he took in the Congo and Bolivia were not his fault since he did not have the right support of the local populace. He might have been a spoiled brat in the beginning but that changed and he was a  popular leader, one of the few who actually believed in what he was fighting for 100%, much different from Castro. I was thinking more of the timeline from WW1 and on till modern day. The boer war would be good maybe since the type of warfare they fough is what we are talking about. That is true about the areas of conflict thank you for bringing it up. Would you agree that it is just as important if not more to read about the insurgencies from those who were in them in order to gain a better understanding of structure and other aspects of insurgency groups.

Ok let's establish one ground rule. Let's not lump Ernesto Che Guevera in with the others as some sort of guru of COIN ops.

Che was a spoiled little rich kid brat who Fidel took along on the Granma as the medic when he returned to Cuba. After losing of his men soon after landing, Fidel had to employ Che as a rifleman and eventually as a sub unit commander based solely on the fact he was literate and most of Fidel;s recruits were not.

While I will not dispute he had brass ones, as evidenced by his attack at Santa Clara, he was no jungle Guederian. His solo campaign in the Escambray Mountains was a fracking disaster and his column had to be saved  more than once from being slaughter by either Morgan's and/or Camillo Cienfuego's columns.

His two post Cuban Revolution guerrilla war campaigns in the Congo and later Bolivia read more like Monty Python does James Bond then anything else. In the Congo he repeatedly was handed his fifth point of contact by Mike Hoare's 5 Commando, and in Bolivia he managed to get his entire command lost in the mountains and wandering around starving, before being captured and then executed pleading on his knees for his life like someone's *****.

There that over the good Mr.O'Leary (as always) has given us a start point. Now can we narrow down your interests, first timelines, are you interested in the counter insurgency ops of the past such as those conducted here in North America in the 17th -19th Centuries and/or Spain during the period that country was occupied by Napoleon's armies? The Ango Boer experiences?

Post WW2 offers several areas to look at with most Western powers involved in conflicts around the world against insurgencies often against former colonies. Indonesia, Indo China, Malaya, Aden, Mozambique, Angola, Congo, Rhodesia, Namibia, Algeria, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Afghanistan, to name a few.

Now are you interested in reading accounts written by the insurgents and their leaders or those who combated said insurgencies?

 

[medicineman]

You could try reading some regimental histories of the Special Air Service during the Second World War, Malaya, Borneo and conflicts in Aden, Dhofar, Oman and Northern Ireland.  There are many available - "Who Dares Wins" by Tony Geraghty is a good general overview about activities post Second World War.  Some names come up you might be able to research later.

MM

 

[sean m]

Thank you for this book . It is a shame that events like this are not widely known considering what these allied forces were up against.

I would also recommend a more conventional campaign that was conducted in a "unconventional" manner. Have a look at the British campaign in the Western Desert in late 1940 and early 1941. Despite being heavily outnumbered and short of just about every major item of equipment, the British commander, General Sir Archibald Wavell, mounted an offensive that drove the Italian forces out of their prepared defences and back across Libya and nearly into the ocean. It all came to naught because of the requirement to go to the aid of Greece, and the arrival in Africa of Rommel and what became the Afrika Korps. Still, it is worth studying as an example of how to seize the initiative and how to concentrate inferior forces to achieve local superiority time after time.

And as a postscript, don't write off the Italians as soldiers. While this was going on, their forces in Eritria and Ethiopia were giving the Brits a very hard time. That is another campaign that merits a look if time permits.

I also second Danjanou's comments re Che Guevera. His reputation is based on mythology and silkscreening.

 

[sean m]

Thank you fo your response, thats a great idea since the SAS are probably the most experienced modern unit with unconvential and guerrilla warfare. The thing that does not make sense is why the SAS and delta force choose the have their image and certain of their actions in the public eye, is this not a bad idea even if it might increase potential recruits.

You could try reading some regimental histories of the Special Air Service during the Second World War, Malaya, Borneo and conflicts in Aden, Dhofar, Oman and Northern Ireland.  There are many available - "Who Dares Wins" by Tony Geraghty is a good general overview about activities post Second World War.  Some names come up you might be able to research later.

MM

 

[Danjanou]

Giap is more a conventional commander than a guerrilla leader

I'm at work and far removed from my book cases so doing this from memory.  Naturally anything written by Mao

The Jungle is Neutral by Spencer Chapman,  Malaya Insurection.

Saint Michael and the Dragon by Pierre Leulliette. Autobiographical account of his service in the Colonial Paras in Algeria

Street without Joy and/or Hell in Very Small Place by Bernard Fall. French failure in Indo China

Fireforce by Chris Cooks,. Autobiographical account of service in the Rhodesian Light Infantry in the Bush War.
Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla by Carlos Marighella, Left wing insurrection movements in Latin America.

 

[sean m]

Hi

Has anyone read the seven pillars of wisdom, in the book he mentions certain things how there was never an Arab bureau, he was not considered the head British representative in the Middle east. He also mentions the name of more people he who worked with him in the field, in the movie there is only one other British officer who served with him he mentions men's names such as; Wilson, Buxton, Davenport,  Wood, Ramsay etc. Has anyone heard of these men of others. It is to bad that they have not gotten the same recognition. Yet of course there is the fact that they might not have wanted it. If there is any problem with this being posted.

Here is a quote from the book about them.


"This isolated picture throwing the main light upon myself is unfair to my British colleagues. Especially I am most sorry that I have not told what the non-commissioned of us did. They were inarticulate, but wonderful, especially when it is taken into account that they had not the motive, the imaginative vision of the end, which sustained the officers. Unfortunately my concern was limited to this end, and the book is just a designed procession of Arab freedom from Mecca to Damascus. It is intended to rationalise the campaign, that everyone may see how natural the success was and how inevitable, how little dependent on direction or brain, how much less on the outside assistance of the few British. It was an Arab war waged and led by Arabs for an Arab aim in Arabia.

My proper share was a minor one, but because of a fluent pen, a free speech, and a certain adroitness of brain, I took upon myself, as I describe it, a mock primacy. In reality I never had any office among the Arabs: was never in charge of the British mission with them. Wilson, Joyce, Newcombe, Dawnay and Davenport were all over my head. I flattered myself that I was too young, not that they had more heart or mind in the work. I did my best. Wilson, Newcombe, Joyce, Dawnay, Davenport, Buxton, Marshall, Stirling, Young, Maynard, Ross, Scott, Winterton, Lloyd, Wordie, Siddons, Goslett, Stent, Henderson, Spence, Gilman, Garland, Brodie, Makins, Nunan, Leeson, Hornby, Peake, Scott-Higgins, Ramsay, Wood, Hinde, Bright, Macindoe, Greenhill, Grisenthwaite, Dowsett, Bennett, Wade, Gray, Pascoe and the others also did their best.

It would be impertinent in me to praise them. When I wish to say ill of one outside our number, I do it: though there is less of this than was in my diary, since the passage of time seems to have bleached out men's stains. When I wish to praise outsiders, I do it: but our family affairs are our own. We did what we set out to do, and have the satisfaction of that knowledge. The others have liberty some day to put on record their story, one parallel to mine but not mentioning more of me than I of them, for each of us did his job by himself and as he pleased, hardly seeing his friends."

 

[Michael OLeary]

See Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom which also includes an index:

Colonel C.E. Wilson ("British representative with the new Arab state")
Colonel Buxton (Camel Corps)
Colonel Davenport (mentioned, not identified)
Capt Wood; base engineer at Akaba
Ramsay (not identified in index)

Since they are British officers, you can trace their careers through mentions in the London Gazette, for example, here's one mention of Buxton (found using the clue from above and searching on buxton camel to start with his camel Corps service):

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 26 NOVEMBER, 1919

Decorations Conferred by HIS HIGHNESS THE SULTAN OF EGYPT.
Order of the Nile, 3rd Class.

Captain (temporary Lieutenant- Colonel) Robert Vere Buxton, D.S.O., West Kent Yeomanry (attached Imperial Camel Corps).

With diligent searching of the London Gazette, you should be able to build the careers of each of the officers, and find full names for wider internet searches. A good intelligence-style research task for you.

Although not one of Lawrence's acquaintances, here's an example of how much you can put together on a British (or Canadian) officer of the period from the Gazette - Eric Boyd Costin, D.S.O.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Further to my last, from our good friends at the Great War Forum, also found while searching for Buxton and his camels as a starting point. The internet is a wonderful place to look for information, far more exciting than the "ask and hope" method of information gathering.

Thread link

Posted 09 July 2010 - 10:34 AM
Hi,
Here is a list of some of those working in Intelligence.

Regards Mark

EGYPT

Five ‘Specialists’ Arrived in Cairo from the War Office Dec 1914 to join the General Staff of Army HQ. None were regular army.
Carefully selected civilians for special service with knowledge of Turkish language and of Asia Minor

Lieutenant George A Lloyd. Knew Turkish had worked at British Embassy in Constantinople, Member of Parliament (had left Cairo by Feb 1915) Worked for Military Intelligence in Gallipoli. Intelligence colleague Staff Officer George Lloyd 4 Feb 1915 visit front at Suez Canal towards end of the battle

Lieutenant Charles Leonard Woolley RFA knew Arabic, archeologist 11 Dec 1914 arrived Egypt

Lieutenant James Barromew Hay, possible former Ottoman Gendarmerie in Libya- specialist on Turkish activity in Libya. Born Aberdeenshire in 1880. Became Assistant Provost Marshal GHQ.

2nd Lieutenant Thomas Edward Lawrence knew Arabic, archaeologist

Captain Aubrey Herbert. Knew Turkish had worked at British Embassy in Constantinople, former Member of Parliament (had left Cairo by Feb 1915) in charge of naval Intelligence in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf in early 1916

2nd Lieutenant T E Lawrence Army List 23.10.1914 appears to have been back dated.
Captain 20 March 1916, Major 5 Aug 1917 (at various times held temporary & local rank in Cairo)

All reported to Captain Stewart Newcombe RE who arrived a few days after them
Worked for Director of Intelligence Captain Gilbert F Clayton (Pre war Cairo Intelligence) also controlled Egyptian civil Intelligence

By Nov 1915 only Hay and Lawrence still working at Army HQ in Cairo

Mervyn Sorley Macdonnell. Specialist on ‘Tripoli’.and Sanusi matters. Irish and had worked as civil servant in the Sudan and Egypt, replaced James Hay at GHQ. Turkish on western frontier of Libya Nov 1915 working with T E Lawrence on Intelligence Summaries

Hough ex Consul at Jaffa Feb 1915

Jan 1915 Captain W H I Shakespear Indian Army adviser to ibn Saud killed in a tribal battle, picked out as a target due to his British uniform

Colonel Wyndham H Deedes (Intelligence staff at Gallipoli) (sent to Basra)
Lieutenant Colonel C J Hawker
Both worked on occasion for Cairo’s Military Intelligence, previously Ottoman Gendarmerie in Libya

Cairo Military Intelligence June 1915 located in the Midan Suraes building Cairo
Captain Stewart Francis Newcombe RE (survey of Sinai)
Macdonnell
2nd Lieutenant T E Lawrence

Ciphering June 1915
Captain Gordon Philip L Cosens-arrived Egypt Nov 1914
Captain Lord C H A Anglesey
Captain Lord Edward William Spencer Hartington (Gallipoli 18 Aug 1915)
Captain Prince Alexander of Battenburg , Grenadier Guards

Colonel A C Parker (Nephew of Lord Kitchener) replaced Captain Necombe when he was posted to the Dardanelles Sept 1915. Pre war Governor of Sinai

WESTERN EGYPT 1915-16

Nov 1915 Captain Hay was at located at RNACD headquarters at al-Dab’a as liaison with Army HQ Cairo. Emergency Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service Armoured Car Division.
Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Charles Lister
George Purvis-Political Officer with the squadron (Deputy Director General of the Egyptian Coastguard Administration)
Lieutenant Yeo RNVR
A surgeon
Medical attendant RAMC
5 men operating the wireless
17 assorted drivers and soldiers.

Sir Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, the 2nd Duke of and 4th Marquess of Westminster in command no.2 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service Armoured Car Division.
Major L V Owston replaced him as commander of the Armoured Car Brigade 1916

Sub Lieutenant Leslie Dudgeon
Interpreter Basil Lambrinidis
Sent to help secure supplies for POW’s from the ‘Tara’ 1916

Cecil Longueville Snow
Captain Norman Dewhurst (Military Representative at British Consulate Riga Latvia in 1921)

Major Leopold Royle RFC killed in combat air crash 17 Aug 1918
Major Charles W Maclean Staff officer. 7 years service Egyptian Army. Married to Leo Royle’s cousin Gladys Royle

Jan 1916 Intelligence section: Code named ‘Intrusive’
Colonel Gilbert Clayton – Chief – Director of Intelligence
Captain Wyndham H Deedes, Kings Royal Rifle Corps– Suspects (Arrived from Intelligence staff Gallipoli 11 Dec 1915) had worked in Turkish section of Military Intelligence in London at start of war
Captain Kinahan Cornwallis – SW Arabia, Arab Bureau
Captain Macdonnell – Tripolitania
Captain Robert Graves – Turkish Army
Major Engleton or Engledon – Censor
Captain T W Beaumont – Censor
Major Hennessy – Suspects
Captain Charles Leonard Woolley – liaison French Fleet
Major C Garvice – Alexandria ‘Staff (Intelligence Alexandria)’, Res of Officers,Staff
Major Pratt Barlow – Suez
Colonel W E Jennings Bramly – Ismailia. A specialist on the Egyptian Bedouin (Sudan Civil Service) (I S Cavalry), (Arrived Egypt June 1915 & 1 Aug 1916)
Built a town called Borg al-Arab west of Alexandria in the 1920’s with a monument a 10ft high pillar in the memory of Leopold Royle.
Local Lieutenant Charles Hubert Armbruster – Enemy trading (Later became Director of Sudan Customs) Arrived Egypt 1 Dec 1915
H F Rider – Enemy trading-Fin Adv Staff
Captain Vivian Henry Hadkinson (RNVR)– French Fleet
Captain Walter Francis Stirling – Port Said
2nd Lieutenant T E Lawrence - Maps

Oct 1915
Captain Chope with the Bikanir Camel Corps arrived from India

George Hunter Coastguard Camel Corps

Nov 1915 at Sollum
Lieutenant Colonel Cecil Longueville Snow, Egyptian Coast Guard. Collected intelligence on the Sansui Brotherhood and secure the Libyan Border
Captain Leopold Royle seconded from RFC ex Coastguard Camel Corps
Captain Richard Brazley-White in command of Egyptian troops
Bimbashi Hewitt

Turkish Mission to the Sanusi in Sept 1914
By the ‘Special Organization’
Pasha Sulayman al-Baruni

Turkish Mission to the Sanusi 1915
Nuri Bey (Enver Pasha’s brother) led the Sanusi Army, later returned to Turkey. He was commanding guerrilla operations in the Caucasus at the end of the war.
Ja’far al-Askari, Staff Officer in Ottoman Army held a command in the Sanusi Army. Captured and later joined the Arab revolt. Govt Minister in Iraq & assassinated in 1936
His ADC was Pertev Tewfik
Muhammad Bey al-Jibani, Libyan noble from Bengahzi
Hajji Kamel Bey al-Bunduqi
Muhyi al-Din Shatila boat owner & Beiruti gun runner

Major Djemal Bey situated at Marmaris harbour

Sulayman al-Baruni

Turkish officers
Fevzi
Husni
Dr Bechie Fuad
Captain Ahmad Mansur ex Egyptian Coastguard
Lieutenant Mustafa
Nehud Bey, Machine gun officer
Abdi Bey

German Mission to Sansui 1915
Lieutenant Baron Otto von Gumpenberg, German Foreign Ministry (ex soldier of fortune), cover name ‘Roeder’ using an American passport. Captured 11 July 1915, and held as POW.
Dr Otto Mannesmann German Agent, Reserve Officer with Uhlan Regiment at Ludswigsburg, Stuttgart. With the German Foreign Ministry as an expert on North Africa. Supplied arms etc via German U boats to the Sansui. Shot and killed 10 April 1916 while travelling west across Libya by Sanusi soldiers

Senousi agent in Cairo 1915
Muhammad Idrisi

Egyptian Coastguard who defected to the Sanusi Nov 1915
Bimbashi Muhammad Saleh (Harb) Bey became a General (lewa) in the Sanusi army. Fled by U boat to Pola and on to Constantinople. Returned to Egypt after the war. 1939 Director General of the Egyptian Coastguard Administration
Yousbashi Adeeb Effendi
Lieutenant Abu Zeid
Mahmoud Labid
Defected with 134 uniformed Egyptians

24 Nov 1914 Four German officers based in Gaza, dressed as Arabs working with Bedouin in Sinai

French navy torpedo boat ‘Mousqueton’ captured two Turkish officers and five NCO’s on a mission to the Sanusi onboard the ‘Olympia’ 16 June 1915

Major Gordon Ingram Bey, Staff Officer in Intelligence at Alexandria ex Egyptian Police, Arabic speaking (died of typhoid in Egypt 28 Feb 1929)

Captain Massey 29th Punjabis commanding Royal Flying Corps group 1915
Pilots
Captain Reilly
2nd Lieutenant Cockerell
Observer - Captain Leopold Royle
Lieutenant Roy Tweedie ex Egyptian Coastguard
Lieutenant Rowden

Athens Intelligence - Major Samson (pseudonym ‘R’) Ran the Levant Branch of British Intelligence
Compton Mackenzie arrived in Athens mid August 1915.

Sir Reginald Hall Head of Naval Intelligence
David George Hogarth-Arab Bureau
Temporary naval or military rank held by officials of the Arab Bureau did not indicate their political status or duties.

French military liaison staff in Egypt
Monsieur Albert Defrance French representative in Cairo
Francois Georges-Picot Secretary at the French Agency
Lieutenant Doynel de Saint-Quentin, French Military representative in Cairo.

Ronald Storrs Oriental Secretary to the High Commissioner
Military Governor Jerusalem 1918. On good terms with the Franciscan Fathers who ran the only English Language printing press in Jerusalem, and printed OETA Standing Orders and also General Instructions for the Information of Officers.

Gertrude M L Bell arrived Cairo 26.11.1915 sent by Captain W R Hall head of Intelligence at the Admiralty. Cairo Intelligence Department an Arab expert. Later based at Basra

Philip Graves joined Intelligence Jan 1915 Expert on the Turkish Army.

Ernest M Dowson Director of the Survey of Egypt

Captain Leopold Royle intelligence officer with Western Frontier Force Nov 1915
Captain James Hay

MESOPOTAMIA May 1916

Colonel Beach – Military Intelligence

Campbell Thompson – Basra
Basara – Secret Service work Captain J C More Military Intelligence staff
Running network of agents into Jauf, Damascus, Aleppo, Diarbekir, Mosul, Deir, and Baghdad
Military Intelligence staff at:
Amara
Ali Gharbi
Sheikh Sad
Nasiriya
Ahwaz

2 mapping sections:
Colonel Pirrie -Survey of India
5 officer surveyors
12 Indian surveyors
Chainmen
Vandyke section
Printing section with 3 machines

RE Litho and Printing Section
Captain Hamilton
Mostly attached to Corps HQ at the front.
Rest based at Basra issuing corrections to degree sheets.

Political Department – HQ at Basra-Sir Percy Z Cox
Also included Customs, Excise, Land Revenue, Taxation, Crown Lands, the Judiciary, the Police, River-Conservancy,
Khaki uniforms and white tabs.
Captain C E Wilson - Assistant
Lieutenant Ernest Gilbert Bullard – Postal Service (ex Levant Consular Service)
Captain Gerard Evelyn Leachman – Political Officer. - Arabian
Captain E W C Noel Political Department
Hubert Young
Major John Inglis Eadie (Indian Army) Iraq Army after war
H R C Dodds - Chief of the Revenue Department (Civilian from India)
Major Blacker Military Intelligence –Arab Bureau local correspondent

Colonel Parker in charge Cairo Intelligence after Clayton in 1916

Ismailia Medforce HQ
Colonel Holdich chief of EEF Intelligence staff

HEJAZ 1916

Colonel A C Parker arrived in Hejaz 6 Sept 1916 for 3 months
Study possibility of setting up an airfield at Rabegh, and a liaison officer at Rabegh
Worked with alongside an engineer officer and a pilot.
Handed over to Major P C Royce 5 Dec 1916 in anticipation of an advance across Sinai where his local knowledge would be very useful.

Captain Alfred Christopher Pearson Royal Warwickshire Regiment - Political Officer looking after the Basra Sector in 1917/1918

Oct 1916 in the Hejaz

Lieutenant Colonel C E Wilson – Pilgrimage Officer
Major Hugh Drummond Pearson RE, Egyptian Army replaced Wilson at Jidda while on leave 1916

Colonel Bremond head of the French Military Mission (later replaced by Major Cousse)
Colonel Cadi of the French Military Mission
Captain Pisani, Artillery Officer
3 French NCO machine gun instructors at Wejh
Sergeant Claude Proste, French Army, arrived at Wadi Ais March 1917
Berhet-French interpreter
Lieutenant Millet English speaking officer of French Military Mission at Jidda
Lamotte a French officer

Major Pierce Charles Joyce
Captain Devonport
Commanded two Moslem Egyptian companies from the Sudan as protection for the RFC

Egyptian artillery unit from the Sudan commanded by Hassan Zeki Bey. (Thought to be pro Turkish)

Captain Bray Indian Army Officer visited Red Sea ports in Arab hands 1916

Major ‘Bimbashi’ H G Garland RE training in explosives had been promoted from Sergeant to Major on starting service in the Hejaz. (Special List British Officers Attached to Egyptian Army) former superintendent of a government explosives laboratory in Cairo. Over saw the Turkish surrender at Medina in late 1918.

Sir Reginald Wingate-Governor General of Sudan ‘Sidar’

Captain Boyle the Commander of the Red Sea Patrol Squadron

Major Ross commander of RFC flight in Hejaz
J C Watson RFC observer at Rabegh

Military Mission of four Officers to the Hejaz
Captain Stewart Newcombe Royal Engineers - Yenbo
Major Vickery Artillery – Rabegh (departed June 1917)
Major Cox Artillery – Rabegh (departed June 1917)
Major Marshall Medical officer – Rabegh

Lieutenant H S Hornby RE joined Hejaz Military Mission April 1917

Captain N N E Bray visited the Hejaz with an Indian Army mission
Dec 1916 Staff Officer (I) to Colonel Wilson at Jidda

Oct 1916 Major P C Joyce senior British officer at Ragbegh

Major Joyce Senior British officer responsible for armoured cars and the RFC flight
Arrived March 1917

Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Evelyn Leachman Wejh March 1917 (12 Aug 1920 shot in the back by a sheikh in Mesopotamia)

Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss-informed observer of Arab Revolt
Flag Captain Burmester

Syrian-Arab operations 1917

Officers from Hadjaz Mission working with EEF in Syrian-Arab operations 28 July 1917
Lieutenant Colonel P C Joyce GSO
Captain W E Marshall MC RAMC Medical Officer
Captain T E Lawrence Staff Captain
Captain R Goslet Army Service Corps, Supply Officer
Captain H S Hornby RE – worked with Arab raiding parties, Peake’s Egyptian Camel Corps and a corps of Egyptian labourers

Captain D MacIndoe Arab Bureau 1917

Lieutenant Wood RE – base engineer Akaba 1917

Algerian Captain Rabo Arab Army

Lieutenant Colonel Alan Dawnay liaison between EEF and Arab Revolt 1918
Direct ‘Arab Operations’ team in Cairo

Lieutenant Colonel Joyce Akaba Base Commandant 1918 (Actually Military adviser to Arab Revolt)
Major Scott actually in charge at Akaba

Lieutenant Alec Kirkbride EEF Intelligence 1918

Agent ‘Y’ a British agent occupying a high place in the Turkish command 1917

Lowell Thomas American journalist-authorised by US Govt. Left Italy for Palestine 12 Jan 1918
Harry Chase his photographer

Special liaison staff GHQ Cairo ‘Hedgehog’ Staff March 1918
Colonel Dawnay GSO 1
Captain Pratt Barlow GSO 3
Major Wordie DAQMG
Captain Bennett Staff Captain

Lieutenant Colonel T E Lawrence GSO 1 Liaison Arab Army12 March 1918

Lieutenant Colonel Walter Francis Stirling MC– Deputy Chief Political Officer June 1918
Captain Hubert Young worked alongside and trained as a possible replacement for Lawrence during 1918

Lieutenant Colonel Robert ‘Robin’ Buxton commanding the Imperial Camel Corps

Major Maynard

Lieutenant Junor RFC pilot of one of two aircraft 1918

Lieutenant Lord A E H M A Delmany Attached 1st Echelon for Special Duty Egypt
With T E Lawrence at the Jaffa Gate ceremony 1917
Later Kings Messenger Service GHQ France
Grenadier Guards, Reserve of Officers, Staff Corps

Major W G A Ormsby – Gore, British Liaison officer to the Zionist Mission in Palestine Feb 1918. (Shropshire Yeomanry)
Arrived in Egypt 15 March 1915. With the Arab Bureau 1916 to 1917. 1922 With the Colonial Office & MP

Colonel Bourchier officer in charge of Allied troops in Damascus 1918

 

[Michael OLeary]

More on Buxton and the Camel Corps:

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62976&st=0&p=552307&hl=+buxton%20+camel&fromsearch=1&#entry552307

 

[a_majoor]

Col David H Hackworth (US Army, Ret) wrote two good books;

His autobiography "About Face", and Steel, My soldier's Hearts tell the stories of how he learned how to become an unconventional warrior over a long career, and the ultimate application of his experience turning a dispirited battalion of conscript troops into a highly effective unit; 4/39 Infantry "Hardcore".

For a very good overview of unconventional war, read "War in the Shadows"

 

[Danneskjold]

Leebaert's "To Dare and to Conquer" provides a broad look at unconventional warfare and tactics from antiquity to the modern era. Though it's better classified as history than biography, he does paint some detailed portraits of central figures - Cortes, for example, and Admiral Cochrane (the Wolf of the Seas). A little too heavy on the Americanism in some places, but otherwise a decent read, and certainly an informative one.

 

[sean m]

Hello.

I was wondering if anyone could state whether or not they know any good books about human intelligence gathering during war time.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?16923-Popski%B4s-Private-Army-special-commando-WWII.

look up General Slimm in Burma