Military squadron

“ The sloop of war belonging to the squadron had bean dispatched, somp time before, to inform the English at Fulta of the intended armament, and to exhort them not to quit the river in despair of assistance.
The squadron consisted of the Kent of 64, Cumberland of 70, Tyger of 60, Salisbury of 50, Bridgwater of 20 guns, and a fireship; to which were added, as transports, three of the company's ships, and two smaller vessels. On board of this fleet were embarked 900 Europeans and 1500 Sepoys; 250 of the Europeans were of Adlereron's regiment; the rest, the best men of the company's troops. ”

“ In the British service, are black canvas bags, which are issued at the rate of one to every 25 men, and are intended to contain those articles of a man’s kit which are not comprised in the “service kit.” They are only used when a regiment is in the field or on the line of march. In India, where knapsacks are never carried, a small squad-bag is issued to each soldier.
Squadron. In military language, denotes two troops of cavalry. It is the unit by which the force of cavalry with an army is always computed. Three or four squadrons constitute a regiment. ”

“ The military value of an air squadron has been enormously increased by virtue of this device, which enables the squadron commander to direct the movements of the individual airplanes in any manner which circumstances may require. ”

“ In naval usage a squadron is a group of vessels either as forming one of the divisions of a fleet or as a separate detachment under a flag officer despatched on special service. In military use, “ squad ” (a shortened form of “ squadron ”) is used of any small detachment of men detailed for drill, fatigue or other duty. ”

“ General and necessary Filings, are from either, or both flanks of the squadron to front, flank or rear; filing from the centre of the squadron to the front, or to the flank. Filing single men by ranks, or by front or rear rank men alternately from either flank of the squadron.
In the filings of the squadron, the serre-files take their places in the rear of the files unless the ground will allow them to remain on the flanks of the rear rank; but their general and proper position is in the rear of the files. ”

“ When the Regiment is drawn up in three Squadrons by itself, at the word march—the whole Dress immediatly to the Center of the Center squadron—if formed in two or in Squadron. The men Dress at all times to the Center when marching. ”

“ AIRCRAFT, ARMY WING.—Strategical reconnaissance including the reconnaissance of areas beyond the tactical zone and in which the enemy's main reserves are located, also distant photography and aerial offensive, will be carried out by an Army squadron under instructions issued direct from G.H.Q. Protection from hostile aircraft will be the main duty of the Army fighting squadron. A bombing squadron will be held in readiness for any aerial offensive which the situation may render desirable. ”

“ Gasping for breath, one reaches for the water-bottle, but it is quite warm. Still, a warm drink brings perspiration, and that is cooling to a certain extent—in its after-effects!
"Night falls, welcomely, and saddled up the Squadron waits for the advance to begin and to drop into its place in the line of march as the Brigade moves past. Voices in the darkness, then shadowy forms, and, their horses' hoofs muffled by the dust, Brigade Headquarters passes by. Then the three regiments, one British and two Indian, each of the latter followed by crowds of donkeys looking ghostly white in the gloom. ”

“ When artillery horses are in need of rest, they are sent back from the front line. We have two or three at the squadron, and I shall probably get some riding if I can pluck up courage enough to try.
“It is bound to be muddy here before the winter is over; at present everything is dry. In preparation for later we have ‘duck-boards,’ or wooden slat-walks, laid down between all the huts, the mess, the hangars, etc. On a dark night it is rather a problem to keep on these boards. ”

“ A sergeant tore the corps mark from his coat, and still he said no word. The long-drawn array went on and on; the evening shadows lengthened; miles of wagon trains rumbled by; whips cracked over mules; the cavalry guard bringing up the rear was lost in the dust left by tramping thousands; the setting sun shone through it ruddy; and last came the squadron net of the Provost-marshal gathering in the stragglers. Tired men were helped by a grip on the stirrup leather. ”

“ By this time they had made themselves quite comfortable at Marie Capelle, and the necessary precautions had been taken to give protection against bombs. It is really remarkable how soon a good squadron will make itself at home in a new station, and how, if all ranks work together, messes, recreation rooms, and a theatre rise up like pumpkins. ”

“ Our squadron belongs to what is known as the group de combat, and it has a definite sector to cover.
“A patrol is always kept over the enemy’s lines, not only to prevent the German pilots from entering ours but to make their lives as full of spice and adventure as we possibly can.”
“Still, we have a lot to do besides fighting,” put in Albert. “Sometimes our duty is to protect the two or three-seater bombardment planes, the avions de réglage, or airplanes used by those who regulate the artillery fire, and the observation and photographic planes. ”

“ From the time we left Sedan, our ears still ringing with the cheers that had sent us on our way from Rheims, we received the heartiest of welcomes and good wishes at every village we passed through, but once across the frontier we were acclaimed—prematurely, as it turned out—as veritable conquerors.
Cavalry on the march, squadron after squadron, has a marked effect on people, and takes the semblance of an invincible rampart against which any enemy must go down. ”

“ The Squadron was an artillery observing one, whose work it was to fly over the enemy's lines and observe the fire of our batteries on selected targets, and, "spotting" where their shells fell, wireless back to our guns the necessary corrections of aim to bring them on the target. ”

“ It must be laid down once for all that with mobile horses the dismounted men of a squadron form one troop in four groups, or with immobile ones two troops, also of four groups, and that they always form up in front of the squadrons, each troop in line, and one behind the other. Then everyone should know exactly what he has to do. It is altogether a misfortune that the dismounted squadron and the squadron on foot parade are two entirely different things. ”

“ They were armed with one or two machine guns, and they engaged in a form of warfare new in the history of the world, and the most thrilling that can be imagined—for each man fought with his own hand, trusting wholly to his own skill, and that not on his own element, but in outrage of nature, high in the air, surrounded only by the winds and clouds.
The embodiment of the fighting scout squadrons was part of the expansion and organisation of what became the Royal Air Force. ”

“ You don’t know a damn thing about observation. How in the hell did you get to the front, anyway? I might use you as a mess officer, but if you ever intend to fly over the front you’ve got to go back and learn something about your job. This is a service squadron, operating over the front. ”

“ The Flying Corps has in France hundreds of aeroplanes, scores of squadrons, and a dozen varying duties. Earlier in the war, when army aircraft were few and their function belonged to the pioneer stage, every pilot and observer dabbled in many things—reconnaissance, artillery observation, bomb raids, photography, and fighting. But the service has since expanded so much, both in size and importance, that each squadron is made to specialise in one or two branches of work, while other specialists look after the remainder. ”

“ Whenever we rose on the crest of a hillock, we could see several thousands of the little fierce bullocks, — some rolling away in flight, in a black breadth, like a shaken carpet; some standing in little groups, like field officers at a review, watching the movements as squadron after squadron came and went over the scene ”

“ By the living God, the blackguards are shooting down their officers! The Scarlet Hussars have mutinied! Steady there, the Regals!” roared the chief, wheeling his horse and facing his own regiment “Squadrons, eyes centre! Officers, see to the dressing!”
280 Suddenly from near the flank of the right troop of the first squadron shot out a dragoon, bellowing, as he turned in his saddle—
“To h— with the Widow! Down with the officers! Come on, chaps, and join our gallant comrades yonder. On, lads, to liberty and license!” ”

“ The effect of this was that many a British machine was forced to land, disabled by gunfire or through engine failure, and the occupants, even though unwounded, were lost to their own side till the end of the war. ”

“ If the squadron training has been well done, they will act like a swarm of bees, trying here, trying there, everywhere moral and movement, till the weak spot is discovered; and then the rush will be made with an irresistible force in the firing line, and no slow pushing up of supports and reserves. ”

“ The German Flying Corps continued to fight hard and well up to the very last day of the war, and, though their armies on the ground were retreating fast, no signs of demoralisation in the air were observed. ”

“ At last the squadron commander took his place in his machine and rose with a whirr. The rest of us rose and circled round, getting our formation.
Crack! At the signal from the commander's pistol we darted forward, going ever higher and higher, while the cheers of the mechanicians and riggers grew fainter.
Across our own trenches we sailed and out over No Man's Land, like a huge, eyeless, pock-scarred earth face staring up at us. ”

“ After the fighting of the day before, and a night of sleeplessness and incessant alarms in the trenches, three of our squadrons, mine among them, were relieved before dawn and placed in reserve. They found billets in little forsaken farms some 600 yards from the firing line. Our men rested as well as they could all day, making beds of the scanty supplies of straw they found, washing themselves in pools, and renewing their strength in order to relieve the troops which had remained in the trenches; a squadron of our regiment, a squadron of the —— Chasseurs, and a section of infantry Chasseurs. ”

“ Competitions between sections and troops, the former for choice, work great things in a squadron. If the minds of sixteen section leaders are all at work to find out the best way to train a recruit in various exercises, to feed a horse to the best advantage with the forage available, to get the best shooting average, and so on, it is obvious that the squadron leader has a good chance of disseminating his knowledge, when found out, through his squadron, whilst an interest is given to the work which is perfectly invaluable. ”

“ Perchance environ round his squadrons bold.
X
There all his Lorrainers and men of might,
All his best armed he placed, and chosen bands,
And with those horse some footmen armed light,
That archers were, used to that service, stands;
The adventurers then, in battle and in fight
Well tried, a squadron famous through all lands,
On the right hand he set, somedeal aside,
Rinaldo was their leader, lord and guide.
XI
To whom the Duke, “In thee our hope is laid
Of victory, thou must the conquest gain,
Behind this mighty wing, so far displayed,
Thou with thy noble squadron close remain ”

“ The tables made substantial changes in the armored division's combat support and combat service support arena. The engineer battalion lost its bridge company (higher headquarters were to supply bridging equipment) and the number of engineer line companies fell from four to three. To compensate for the removal of reconnaissance elements from tank and infantry units, the reconnaissance squadron included a troop for each of the combat commands. ”

“ The length to which the supporting functions of the fleet may be carried will always be a delicate question. The suggestion that its strength must be affected by the need of the army for the men of the fleet or its boats, which imply its men as well, will appear heretical. A battle-squadron, we say, is intended to deal with the enemy's battle-squadron and its men to fight the ships, and the mind revolts at the idea of the strength of a squadron being fixed by any other standard. ”

“ I will show you this squadron, gentlemen, and if you had not learned from me you would not know that they are not old soldiers. Every one is tempered and hammered in fire, like an old horseshoe, and stands in order like a Roman legionary. ”

“ The board also addressed the combat support needs of the division. Since the division routinely employed aircraft for artillery observation, liaison, registration of fire, and reconnaissance, the board suggested the addition of an air squadron, a balloon company, a photographic section, and an intelligence officer to the division. ”

“ The strength of the Squadron at this time was six officers, 212 O.R.'s, 181 riding horses, 80 draft [108] mules, 43 pack animals. So far as can be ascertained now, the following were the officers and N.C.O.'s:—
The route taken was familiar to everyone. ”

“ Every soldier in the squadron that lived kept his life by sheer, breathless, ceaseless, hand-to-hand sword-play, hewing right and left, front and rear, without pause, as, in the great tangled forests of the west, men hew aside branch and brushwood ere they can force one step forward. ”