Orde Wingate and the Special Night Squads: A Feasible Policy for Counter-terrorism?

Abstract

This article analyses the counter-terrorist operations carried out by Captain (later Major General) Orde Wingate in Palestine in 1938, and considers whether these might inform current operations. Wingate's Special Night Squads were formed from British soldiers and Jewish police specifically to counter terrorist and sabotage attacks. Their approach escalated from interdicting terrorist gangs to pre-emptive attacks on suspected terrorist sanctuaries to reprisal attacks after terrorist atrocities. They continued the British practice of using irregular units in counter-insurgency, which was sustained into the postwar era and contributed to the evolution of British Special Forces. Wingate's methods proved effective in pacifying terrorist-infested areas and could be applied again, but only in the face of ‘friction’ arising from changes in cultural attitudes since the 1930s, and from the political-strategic context of post-2001 counter-insurgent and counter-terrorist operations. In some cases, however, public opinion might not preclude the use of some of Wingate's techniques.

Notes

1. Leonard Mosley, Gideon Goes to War (London: Arthur Barker, 1955), pp.58–9.

2. Tom Segev, One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate (London: Abacus, 2000), pp.414, 430–1; Michael B. Oren, ‘Orde Wingate: Friend under Fire’, Azure Issue 10, ⟨www.azure.org.il⟩, pp.3, 12.

3. See Simon Anglim, Strategic and Combat Studies Institute Occasional Paper No.49: Orde Wingate, the Iron Wall and Counter-Terrorism in Palestine 1937-39 (Shrivenham: SCSI, 2005), pp.46–8; Oren, ‘Orde Wingate: Friend under Fire’, pp.10–12.

4. Interview with the author, 25 August 2004.

5. O'Connor to his wife, 2–3 November 1938, Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives (LHCMA) O'Connor Papers 3/1/18.

6. David Ben-Gurion, ‘Our Friend: What Wingate did for Us’, Jewish Observer and Middle East Review No.27, September 1963, LHCMA Liddell Hart Papers File 15/3/11, pp.15–16.

7. Charles Townshend, Terrorism: A Brief Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2002), pp.114–39; also discussed in Alan Dershowitz, Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2002), pp.105–30.

8. Brian Bond, Liddell Hart: A Study of his Military Thought (London: Cassell, 1977), pp.247–8.

9. Conor Cruise O'Brien, The Siege: The Story of Israel and Zionism (London: Grafton, 1986), pp.87–90, 125; Tom Segev, One Palestine, pp.36–9.

10. O'Brien, The Siege, pp.202–3.

11. Ibid., pp.209–12; Segev, One Palestine, pp.359–63.

12. John Mackinlay, Royal United Services Institute Whitehall Paper No.44: Defeating Complex Insurgency (London: RUSI, 2005), especially pp.19–40; Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century (St Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2006), especially pp.207–24.

13. Public Record Office (PRO) WO32/4562, ‘Hostile Propaganda in Palestine 1938: unfounded allegations against behaviour of British troops’, 1939; Appendix D to PRO WO33/1436, ‘Information for Commanders of reinforcing troops in Palestine’, 1936; Folios 7a, 32a, 40a, 41b, 55a, 57g in PRO WO191/86, ‘Report of Palestine Royal Commission: events preceding and following publication’, June–September 1937.

14. Haining to Montgomery and O'Connor, undated of December 1938, LHCMA O'Connor Papers, File 3/2/8.

15. PRO WO191/70, ‘Military Lessons of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine, 1936’, February 1938, pp.1–2, 22–3, 159–61.

16. Ibid., pp.1–2, 160.

17. Cutting from the New York Times of 16 October 1936, in PRO CO733/316/1, ‘Interests and Opinions of the USA on the situation in Palestine’, August–December 1936.

18. Ibid., and see Appendix B to PRO WO191/88, ‘History and Notes on Operations: Disturbances in Palestine’, 1936-1939 for the insurgent ‘doctrine’; Segev, One Palestine, pp.363, 368–71.

19. PRO WO191/70, pp.1–2, 160.

20. See Che Guevara, Guerrilla Warfare (London: Souvenir Press, 1998); Mao Tse-Tung, On Guerrilla Warfare (New York: Praeger, 1961); John Shy and Thomas W. Collier, ‘Revolutionary War’, in Peter Paret (ed.) Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age (Oxford: OUP, 1994).

21. See T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (London: Jonathan Cape, 1935), pp.195–202.

22. O'Brien, The Siege, pp. 209, 212; Segev, One Palestine, pp.359–63.

23. For a summary of this model, refer to Robert E. Harkavy and Stephanie G. Neuman, Warfare and the Third World (New York: Palgrave, 2001), pp.201–5, 230–2.

24. See, for instance, Army Council Instruction of 7 September 1936, Folio 7a in PRO WO32/4174, ‘Army Council Instructions to Lieutenant General J.G. Dill regarding the command of the Palestine Armed Forces’, 1936.

25. Colonel C.E. Callwell, Small Wars, Their Principles and Practice (Facsimile of 3rd Edition, Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press, 1996); see also Field Service Regulations 1929 Edition (London: HMSO, 1929) Vol.II, pp.204–7.

26. See, for instance, ‘MFC’, ‘Raids and Reprisals on the North-West Frontier’, Journal of the United Services Institute of India (JUSII) Vol.LIV (1922), pp. 383–92; Anonymous, ‘The Burmese Rebellion 1931’, JUSII Vol.LX (1932), pp.146–50, 153–4.

27. Annex F to PRO WO33/1436 ‘Information for Commanders of Reinforcing Troops in Palestine 1936’; PRO WO141/93, pp.22, 30–1; PRO WO191/70, p.161; PRO WO191/75, ‘Preliminary Notes on Lessons of Palestine Rebellion, 1936’, paras.26–9; A.F. Perrott, Inspector General of Police, Northwest Frontier Province, to Major General Richard O'Connor of 18 October 1938, LHCMA O'Connor Papers File 3/2/1; Anonymous, ‘The Burmese Rebellion 1931’, pp.157–61; Callwell, Small Wars, pp.41–2, 72, 76–8, 97–107, 147–9; Captain W. St J. Carpendale, ‘The Moplah Rebellion 1921–22’, JUSII Vol.LVI (1926), pp.79, 82, 86–7; Captain C.M.P. Durnford, ‘The Arab Insurrection of 1920–21’, JUSII Vol.LIV (1922), pp.188–9; Major General Charles W. Gwynn, Imperial Policing (London: Macmillan, 1939), pp.14–21, 99–100.

28. PRO WO32/4500, ‘Notification to Parliament of calling out of Section “A” Army Reserve to form Palestine re-inforcements [sic]’, 1936; ‘Correspondent in Jerusalem’, ‘Service Problems in Palestine’, RUSI Journal, Vol.LXXXI (1936).

29. Callwell, Small Wars, pp.40–1.

30. ‘The Palestine Martial Law (Defence) Order in Council 1936’, and other papers in PRO WO32/9618, ‘Palestine Disturbances, Martial Law Policy’, 1936–1938; PRO WO32/4562 ‘Hostile Propaganda in Palestine 1938: unfounded allegations against behaviour of British troops’, pp.9–11.

31. PRO WO191/70; PRO WO191/75, pp.10, 26, 29; PRO WO33/1436, paras.15–36.

32. PRO WO32/4562, pp.3–4; PRO WO32/9401 ‘Disturbances 1936’, p.4; PRO WO191/88 ‘History and notes on operations: disturbances in Palestine’, p.4.

33. PRO WO191/88, pp.4–5; ‘Kidnappers in Palestine – The Terrorists' Technique’, Daily Telegraph, 28 December 1938, LHCMA Liddell Hart Papers File 15/5/297.

34. PRO WO32/4562, p.4.

35. Ibid., pp.1–2, 5; PRO WO32/9497, ‘Operations in Palestine, 20 May–30 July 1938’, pp.1–2, 6; Enclosure 1c to PRO CO733/383/1, ‘Police Reorganisation, Sir C. Tegart's Mission to Palestine’.

36. PRO WO32/9498, ‘Operations in Palestine 1 Aug–31 Oct 1938’, pp.2, 5; Stuart Emeny, ‘Arabs gain control over large areas in Palestine’, News Chronicle, 12 October 1938, LHCMA Liddell Hart Papers File 15/5/297.

37. See Peter Mead, Orde Wingate and the Historians (Braunton: Merlin, 1987), pp.139–84.

38. Most notably in ibid., pp.17–24; David Rooney, Wingate and the Chindits: Redressing the Balance (London: Arms & Armour, 1994), especially pp.9–10, 201–49; Sir Robert Thompson, Make for the Hills (London: Leo Cooper, 1989), pp.71–6.

39. ‘Appreciation by Captain O.C. Wingate, of Force HQ Intelligence on 5.6.38 at NAZARETH of the possibilities of night movements by armed forces of the Crown with the object of putting an end to terrorism in northern Palestine’ [hereafter ‘Night Movements’], LHCMA Liddell Hart Papers File 15/5/3000, pp.2–3; Brigadier O.C. Wingate, ‘Intruder Mission’, War, No.48 (10 July 1943), pp.5, 7–8.

40. ‘Night Movements’, p.3.

41. Ibid., p.2.

42. Ibid.

43. Thompson, Make for the Hills, p.31; Thompson, then an officer in the Royal Air Force, served with Wingate on both Chindit operations and was a staunch posthumous defender of his reputation.

44. Bimbashi O.C. Wingate, ‘Report on DINDER Patrol carried out by two sections of No.2 Idara EAC from 11/4/31 to 26/4/31’, p.1; O.C. Wingate, ‘Report on No.11 Patrol EAC 1932’, pp.5–6; Bimbashi Wingate EAC, ‘Note on Game Protection on Dinder and Rahad Rivers’, p.1, all in Imperial War Museum Wingate Early Life Papers, Box III; Simon Anglim, ‘Orde Wingate in Sudan, 1928–1933: Formative Experiences of the Chindit Commander’, RUSI Journal, Vol.148, No.3 (June 2003).

45. Callwell, Small Wars, pp.144, 339–45, 350–1.

46. ‘India, Northwest Frontier Corps Troops – Corps of Gurkha Scouts, War Diary, 1919 May–1919 August’, in PRO WO95/5390.

47. PRO WO141/93, Vol.I, p.24, Vol.IV, pp.68–9; PRO CJ4/152, ‘The Black and Tans’, p.1; ‘Burmese Rebellion’, pp.160–1; Charles Townshend, ‘The Anglo-Irish War’, unpublished paper presented to the Institute for National Strategic Studies, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, pp.15, 17.

48. See Robert B Asprey, War in the Shadows (London: Little Brown, 1994), pp.425–27, 639, 1126–7; Tony Geraghty, Who Dares Wins: The Special Air Service 1950-1992 (London: Little Brown, 1992), pp.187–8, 198–203, 325, 331, 333–4, 336–8.

49. William Seymour, British Special Forces (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1985), pp.5–6.

50. Callwell, Small Wars, pp.144, 345, 350–1.

51. David Ben-Gurion, ‘Britain's Contribution to Arming the Hagana’, Jewish Observer and Middle East Review, 20 September 1963, pp.13-14; Memo from Sir Arthur Wauchope, Governor General Palestine, to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 26 January 1937, in PRO WO32/4178; PRO WO191/70, p.118.

52. Ben-Gurion, ‘Our Friend’, p.15; Captain O.C. Wingate GSI, ‘Principles Governing the Employment of Special Night Squads, Nazareth 10.6.37’ [a misprint for 10 June 1938], LHCMA Liddell Hart Papers, p.3.

53. Ben-Gurion, ‘Our Friend’, p.15; David Ha'Cohen, ‘The Story of a Historic Friendship’, Jewish Observer and Middle East Review, 17 October 1969, p.15; Christopher Sykes, Orde Wingate (London: Collins, 1959), pp.111, 113, 121–2.

54. ‘Night Movements’, p.3.

55. Maurice Samuelson, ‘Return to Ein Harod: Major General H.E.N. Bredin describes the Night Squads’, Jewish Observer and Middle East Review, 17 October 1969, p.20.

56. Ben-Gurion, ‘Our Friend’, p.15.

57. Yigal Allon, The Making of Israel's Army (London: Valentine, Mitchell, 1980), pp.8–11; Moshe Dayan, Story of My Life (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1976), pp.44–8.

58. Lawrence spoke of ‘Doctrine, the idea that produces friendliness’ in ‘The Evolution of a Revolt’, Army Quarterly Vol.1, No.1 (Oct. 1920), p.69, and in his entry on ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ in the 1929 Encyclopaedia Britannica, reprinted in Gerard Chaliand (ed.), The Art of War in World History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), p.890. Wingate wrote about this issue, including a pungent critique of Lawrence's ‘doctrine’, in his ‘Appreciation of the Ethiopian Campaign’, several draft copies in the IWM Wingate Abyssinia Papers, pp.3–7, 10, 13–14.

59. General Tommy Franks, American Soldier (New York: Regan, 2004), pp.309–13; George Friedman, America's Secret War: Inside the Worldwide Struggle Between the United States and its Enemies (London: Little Brown, 2004), pp.3–25, 163–5, 192–200; Hammes, The Sling and the Stone, pp.130–3; Bob Woodward, Bush at War (London: Pocket Books, 2002), pp.141–4, 155, 230, 252, 254, 260, 266–8, 273, 292, 295, 299.

60. PRO WO33/1436 Part II para. 8; PRO WO190/70, pp.131–2.

61. David French, Raising Churchill's Army: The British Army and the War Against Germany 1919–1945 (Oxford: OUP, 2000), pp.21, 218–19.

62. Captain O.C. Wingate, ‘Organisation and Training of Special Night Squads (SNS), HQ 16 Inf Bde No.1127/1, August 1938’, in LHCMA Liddell Hart Papers File 15/5/300, Appendix, p.2.

63. For an introduction to this concept, see Robert Leonhard, The Art of Maneuver – Maneuver-Warfare Theory and AirLand Battle (Novato, CA: Presidio, 1991), pp.50, 52, 113–18.

64. ‘Night Movements’, pp.15–16.

65. Ibid., pp.1–2.

66. ‘Wingate avenges the death of Sturman and his comrades’, Ha'aretz, 21 April 1942, transcription in IWM Wingate Chindit Papers, Box V.

67. Tim Collins, Rules of Engagement: A Life in Conflict (London: Headline, 2005), pp.223–5, 230–53.

68. Wingate, ‘Principles’, pp.4–5; Lieutenant Rex King-Clark, ‘Special Night Squad 1st Battalion the Manchester Regiment – Personal Diary’, Imperial War Museum King-Clark Papers, pp.13, 17; John Bierman and Colin Smith, Fire in the Night: Wingate of Burma, Ethiopia and Zion (London: Macmillan, 1999), pp.115–16.

69. Sykes, Orde Wingate, p.151.

70. Captain O.C. Wingate OCSNS, ‘Report of Operation carried out by Special Night Squads on the Night of 11th/12th July 1938’, LHCMA Liddell Hart Papers File 15/5/300, pp.1-3; King-Clark Diary, p.27.

71. See Wingate, ‘11/12 July’, pp.1–2; Captain O.C. Wingate, ‘Note on the Development of Special Night Squads, RAF Hospital, Sarafand, on 14.7.38’, LHCMA File 15/5/300, p.2.

72. Sykes, Orde Wingate, pp.178–9.

73. Ibid., pp.180–1.

74. Segev, One Palestine, pp.430–1.

75. PRO WO32/9498, ‘Operations in Palestine 1 Aug-31 Oct 1938’, pp.2–5.

76. Montgomery to Lieutenant General Sir Ronald Adam, DCIGS, in PRO WO216/111, ‘Major General BL Montgomery, 8 Division Palestine: demi-official correspondence’; 16th Infantry Brigade Intelligence Summaries of 9 May and 5 September 1939, in PRO WO201/2134, ‘Palestine Intelligence Summaries: 16th Infantry Brigade Operations’, 1939–1940.

77. Friedman, America's Secret War, pp.309–13; Christian Jennings, Midnight in Some Burning Town: British Special Forces Operations from Belgrade to Baghdad (London: Cassell, 2005), pp.195–211.

78. Colonel O.C. Wingate, ‘Notes on Penetration Warfare – Burma Command’, IWM Wingate Chindit Papers, Box I, pp.2–4.

79. Hammes, The Sling and the Stone, pp.208, 212–15, 217–18; Mackinlay, Defeating Complex Insurgency, pp.vi–vii, 37–9.

80. For example, see Collins, Rules of Engagement, pp.158–60; Franks, American Soldier, pp.419–25, 526–8, 542–4; George Packer, The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq (London: Faber & Faber, 2005), pp.24–99; Woodward, Bush at War, pp. 338–42.

81. Michael Duffy, Tim McGirk, Aparasim Ghosh, ‘The Ghosts of Haditha’, Time, Vol.167, No.24 (12 June 2006), pp.48–55; Friedman, America's Secret War, pp.326–30; Mackinlay, Defeating Complex Insurgency, p 37; ‘The Massacre in Haditha’ and ‘A horror that will not be buried’, The Economist, 3–9 June 2006, pp.14–15, 49.

82. Collins, Rules of Engagement, pp.389–91, 393–5, 369–70, 409–11, 417; Evan Wright, Generation Kill (London: Corgi, 2005), pp.387–90.

83. Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper, Forgotten Armies: Britain's Asian Empire and the War with Japan (London: Allen Lane, 2004), p.342.