A combat shotgun is a shotgun issued by militaries for warfare . The earliest shotguns specifically designed for combat were the trench guns or trench shotguns issued in World War I . While limited in range, the multiple projectiles typically used in a shotgun shell provide increased hit probability unmatched by other small arms.
87-750: Dalforce , officially the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army (星華義勇軍; Xinghua Yi Yong Jun ) was an irregular forces / guerrilla unit within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II . Its members were recruited among the ethnic Chinese people of Singapore. It was created on 25 December 1941 by Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley of the Federated Malay States Police Force . The unit
174-485: A bayonet , and may be fitted with ventilated steel or plastic hand guards over the barrel to reduce the danger of a soldier burning their hand on the hot barrel during rapid fire. Riot shotguns are more likely to trade off increased magazine capacity for decreased size. For example, a combat model would be more likely to have a 51 cm (20 in) barrel and up to a 10-round capacity, while riot shotguns are often found with barrels of 35 to 46 cm (14 to 18 in) and
261-500: A door breaching system, the shotgun may be provided with a muzzle extension to allow it to be pressed firmly against the door while providing the correct standoff distance for optimum performance. While there are specialized rounds for breaching doors with minimal hazard to any occupants of the room, any type of round will do the job, though with some degradation of effectiveness and increased risk of collateral damage. In operations in Iraq,
348-405: A sawed-off shotgun or carbine. Guevara also mentions an improvised weapon developed by guerrillas consisting of a sawed-off 16-gauge shotgun provided with a bipod to hold the barrel at a 45-degree angle. Called the "M-16", this was loaded with a blank cartridge formed by removing the shot from a standard shotshell. A wooden rod was then placed in the barrel, with a Molotov cocktail attached to
435-652: A troop , group , unit , column , band , or force . Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organizations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular infantry and irregular cavalry units. Irregular warfare is warfare employing the tactics commonly used by irregular military organizations. This involves avoiding large-scale combat, and focusing on small, stealthy, hit-and-run engagements. The words "regular" and "irregular" have been used to describe combat forces for hundreds of years, usually with little ambiguity. The requirements of
522-555: A 2013 film. Irregular military Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used. An irregular military organization is one which is not part of the regular army organization. Without standard military unit organization , various more general names are often used; such organizations may be called
609-460: A 70 mm (2 3 ⁄ 4 inch) 12-gauge shell loaded with nine hardened 00 buckshot, with a diameter of about 8.4 mm (0.33 in). Buckshot is brutally effective at close ranges against unarmored targets—enough so that Germany issued a protest against its use in 1918. The only other types of ammunition currently in use in military shotguns are breaching rounds , which are either specially designed frangible rounds designed to destroy
696-424: A backup weapon, should the operator empty the magazine and not have time to reload. A sling to carry the shotgun is essential if it is to be used in conjunction with another weapon, so that the shotgun may be readily accessible. The bulk and weight of shotgun ammunition also limits its utility as a general-issue weapon. Weight per 100 rounds of an average 12-gauge 00-buck 2 + 3 ⁄ 4 -inch (70 mm) shell
783-439: A capacity of 5 to 8 rounds. The combat shotgun has evolved from its original role as a short range combat weapon into a wider role in modern times. With proper configuration, ammunition and training, the modern combat shotgun plays three roles: Effective range of the shotgun with standard buckshot is limited to about 20–30 meters. Slug rounds, if available, can extend the effective range of the shotgun to 100 meters (although this
870-846: A door lock or hinge while minimizing the risk of damage to occupants of the room or very light (#9) birdshot, which accomplishes the same purpose. Shotgun slugs are currently under consideration by the US military as an anti-materiel round; the tendency of typical commercial shotgun slugs to deform on impact would render them illegal under the Hague Convention of 1899 and so a jacketed, hardened or sabot slug may be adopted. Less lethal rounds are used by U.S. troops serving as police forces in occupied territory; beanbag and rubber bullet rounds are commonly used to discourage looters and rioters. In military use, flechette ammunition has also been used in shotguns (primarily by special forces , such as its use by
957-506: A few dozen shotshells can be carried practically. A Joint Service Combat Shotgun Program report on the lethality of shotguns in war states, in support of the use of the shotgun in warfare, "the probability of hitting a man-sized target with a shotgun was superior to that of all other weapons", and goes on to support this with statistics compiled by the British from the conflict in Borneo in
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#17328026188551044-429: A government's chain of command cause the regular army to be very well defined, and anybody fighting outside it, other than official paramilitary forces, are irregular. In case the legitimacy of the army or its opponents is questioned, some legal definitions have been created. In international humanitarian law , the term "irregular forces" refers to a category of combatants that consists of individuals forming part of
1131-412: A grand scale, there is no one to carry out guerilla missions but regulars." He also emphasizes the importance for the use of regular units permanently attached to guerilla warfare activities, stating that they can play key roles in severing enemy supply routes. While the morale, training and equipment of the individual irregular soldier can vary from very poor to excellent, irregulars are usually lacking
1218-423: A higher rate of fire than a pump shotgun, though controlling a heavy recoiling shotgun in rapid fire is difficult. The autoloading action is more suitable for firing from a prone position, as operation of a pump action moves the elbow normally used to support the shotgun, and it can more effectively be used one-handed, unlike pump actions which require two hands for effective cycling of the action. The pump shotgun
1305-642: A little before midnight on 14 February. They were caught by two Japanese patrol vessels and were forced to surrender. Dalley survived the war, and submitted a positive report on the unit in 1945–46. Dalforce has appeared in the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) 1984 television series The Awakening , Television Corporation Of Singapore (TCS) The Price Of Peace 1997, MediaCorp Channel 8 2001 drama In Pursuit of Peace , MediaCorp Channel 5 2001 drama A War Diary and in Canopy
1392-501: A locked door with the shotgun and then immediately switch to the assault rifle to clear the room. According to the Army Rangers , their verdict was positive for this new type of breaching gun. In operations in post-invasion Iraq , US forces used their combat shotguns to clear out suspected insurgent hideouts in house to house fighting. One notable experimental shotgun used in limited numbers during Operation Enduring Freedom
1479-427: A peasant guerilla force which in time transformed itself into a large regular force. This transformation was foreseen in the doctrine of " people's war ", in which irregular forces were seen as being able to engage the enemy and to win the support of the populace but as being incapable of taking and holding ground against regular military forces. Modern conflicts in post-invasion Iraq , the renewed Taliban insurgency in
1566-803: A piece of red cloth to their right arms and a yellow one around their heads to reflect the unity of the Overseas Chinese with the Republic of China and Chinese traditions . Most were issued Lee–Enfield No.I Mk.III rifles, bayonets and about 7–20 bullets each for those in the Communist wing and 24 bullets for those in the Chinese Nationalist wing. Only a small number wielded grenades and Bren light machine guns . Others had to carry weapons used for hunting animals, such as sporting rifles and parangs . Military training lasted until
1653-403: A unit recruited from the people" were all examples of ways in which regular military units could be involved in irregular warfare. Mao argues that regular army units temporarily detailed for irregular warfare are essential because "First, in mobile-warfare situations, the coordination of guerilla activities with regular operations is necessary. Second, until guerilla hostilities can be developed on
1740-438: Is 4.65 kg (10.25 lb); for an average .223/5.56 round, weight per 100 rounds is about 1.22 kg (2.69 lb) or a 3.8:1 weight ratio of 12-gauge buckshot and 5.56×45mm. This means just eight 12-gauge buckshot shells weigh approximately the same (1 lb or 0.45 kg) as thirty 5.56×45mm rifle cartridges. While an individual soldier can easily carry several hundred rifle or pistol cartridges in box magazines, only
1827-542: Is also dependent on the shotgun's sighting system; rifle sights and ghost ring sights will allow the average shooter to effectively engage human-sized targets at considerably greater distances than with a bead sight). Less lethal rounds vary, with ranges from 10 meters for rubber buckshot to 75 meters for rubber slugs. These less lethal munitions are the same type as used by police, and have served well in riot control situations, such as that in Kosovo in 2001. When used as
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#17328026188551914-564: Is less prone to malfunction (particularly when dirty) than semi-automatic designs. Pump-action shotguns are also less expensive than their semi-automatic counterparts. Even so, semi-automatic shotguns such as the Benelli M1014 are currently seeing service in NATO-aligned armed forces. Combat shotguns typically have much shorter barrels than shotguns used for hunting. They usually have magazines of modified design to hold more than
2001-449: Is more versatile than the semiautomatic, as it will fire low powered less lethal munitions which lack sufficient pressure to cycle the action in an autoloading design. A pump shotgun, which does not rely on its ammunition for energy to cycle, operates normally with the lower powered ammunition, and provides utility in combat and riot control situations. In addition, the pump shotgun has an advantage in situations such as door breaching, where
2088-414: Is only roughly as effective as a small caliber handgun round, and offers very poor penetration against an armored target, the multiple projectiles increases the likelihood of one or more peripheral wounds. A number of compromises are involved in choosing a shot size: The most common type of ammunition used in combat shotguns, whether for military or law enforcement purposes, is buckshot , typically
2175-681: Is the XM26 for breaching doors or close-quarter battle (CQB). Combat shotguns have seen use in the Russo-Ukrainian War in the anti-drone role although their effectiveness remains unclear. The most common type of shotgun used for this purpose is the manually operated, slide-action/pump-action type like the Remington M870 or Mossberg 590A1 . The latter is currently the pump-action of choice for US armed forces, and both have seen service with other militaries. The pump-action type
2262-446: Is to be used to refer to a specific group. Using one term over another can strongly imply strong support or opposition for the cause. It is possible for a military to cross the line between regular and irregular. Isolated regular army units that are forced to operate without regular support for long periods of time can degrade into irregulars. As an irregular military becomes more successful, it may transition away from irregular, even to
2349-732: The 2001 war in Afghanistan , the Darfur conflict , the rebellion in the North of Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army , and the Second Chechen War are fought almost entirely by irregular forces on one or both sides. The CIA 's Special Activities Center (SAC) is the premiere American paramilitary clandestine unit for creating or combating irregular military forces. SAD paramilitary officers created and led successful units from
2436-560: The British Army . Prior to 1857 Britain's East India Company maintained large numbers of cavalry and infantry regiments officially designated as "irregulars", although they were permanently established units. The end of Muslim rule saw a large number of unemployed Indian Muslim horsemen, who were employed in the army of the EIC . British officers such as Skinner , Gardner and Hearsay had become leaders of irregular cavalry that preserved
2523-618: The CIA 's Special Activities Center . However at times, such as out of desperation, conventional militaries will resort to guerilla tactics, usually to buy breathing space and time for themselves by tying up enemy forces to threaten their line of communications and rear areas, such as the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry and the Chindits . Although they are part of a regular army, United States Special Forces are trained in missions such as implementing irregular military tactics . However, outside
2610-673: The Confederate States of America . One could attribute the disastrous defeat of the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest to the lack of supporting irregular forces; only a few squadrons of irregular light cavalry accompanied the invasion of Germany when normally the number of foederati and auxiliaries would equal the regular legions. During this campaign the majority of locally recruited irregulars defected to
2697-903: The Hmong tribe during the Laotian Civil War in the 1960s and 1970s. They also organized and led the Mujaheddin as an irregular force against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, as well as the Northern Alliance as an irregular insurgency force against the Taliban with US Army Special Forces during the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and organized and led the Kurdish Peshmerga with US Army Special Forces as an irregular counter-insurgency force against
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2784-592: The OSS operators of World War II, which were tasked with inspiring, training, arming and leading resistance movements in German-occupied Europe and Japanese occupied Asia. In Finland, well-trained light infantry Sissi troops use irregular tactics such as reconnaissance, sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. The founder of the People's Republic of China , Mao Zedong actively advocated for
2871-607: The Peninsular War led by Spaniards against the French invaders in 1808 provided the first modern example of guerrilla warfare . Indeed, the term of guerrilla itself was coined during this time. As the Industrial Revolution dried up the traditional source of irregulars, nations were forced take over the duties of the irregulars using specially trained regular army units. Examples are the light infantry in
2958-637: The SEALs in the Vietnam War ), but this is not common. Other experimental shotgun ammunition has been created, such as SCMITR , but none have been successful enough to be adopted. Due to the great flexibility of the shotgun, it is often used in non-offensive roles as well. The US Infantry, for example, offers a number of less lethal varieties of ammunition for use in the riot control role, and for door breaching with #9 birdshot, shotgun slugs , and specialized breaching rounds. Less-lethal options also include
3045-540: The Saiga-12 ), the tubular magazine is still dominant. This limits capacities; the current US pump shotgun issued, the Mossberg 590 , has a 5 or 8 shot capacity depending on barrel length. The tubular magazine does allow easy "topping off" (a tube-fed pump shotgun can be kept shouldered and aimed at a target and ready to fire while being loaded), so training emphasizes the need to load the magazine to full capacity whenever
3132-869: The Sook Ching massacre for their involvement in Dalforce. Quite a number of veterans were able to escape to India after Singapore fell. Others fled into the jungles and joined the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army during the occupation. After the war, Percival originally disparaged the Chinese community in his dispatches for not assisting the British enough during the invasion. He later changed his opinion in his book, The War in Malaya , after his dispatches circulated in Singapore, causing an outcry among
3219-534: The Spanish Civil War ), fought the Japanese at Bukit Timah together with her husband. Both were over 60 years of age when they volunteered, making their last stand at Bukit Timah heights exchanging fire with the Japanese from behind trees. Madam Cheng and her husband's heroics at Bukit Timah earned them a certificate of recognition in 1948, signed by Lieutenant-Colonel Dalley himself. Madam Cheng's husband
3306-735: The Texas Revolution . However, buck and ball worked as well or better in standard or even rifled muskets. Buck and ball loads were used by both sides of the American Civil War , often by cavalry units. The development of repeating pump-action shotguns in the 1890s led to their use by the US Marines in the Philippines insurrections and by General "Black Jack" Pershing 's pursuit of Pancho Villa , and "riot" shotguns quickly gained favor with civilian police units, but
3393-939: The Three Kingdoms period, the American Revolution , the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War , the Franco-Prussian War , the Russian Civil War , the Second Boer War , Liberation war of Bangladesh, Vietnam War , the Syrian Civil War and especially the Eastern Front of World War II where hundreds of thousands of partisans fought on both sides. The Chinese People's Liberation Army began as
3480-458: The pump action , and various semi-automatic designs, mostly gas operation and recoil operation designs. The SPAS-12 , SPAS-15 , and Benelli M3 shotguns, combine the two, offering pump action or, when the pump is locked forwards, autoloading operation. There have also been a few fully automatic shotguns produced such as the AA-12 . The autoloading shotgun (semi or fully automatic) offers
3567-662: The smoothbore musket , the combat shotgun bears more kinship to the shorter blunderbuss . Invented in the 16th century by the Dutch, the blunderbuss was used through the 18th century in warfare by the British, Austrian, Spanish (like the Escopeteros Voluntarios de Cadiz, formed in 1804, or the Compañía de Escopeteros de las Salinas, among others) and Prussian regiments, as well as in the American colonies. As use of
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3654-466: The "how" and "what", but it is more common to focus on the "why" as just about all irregular units were created to provide a tactical advantage to an existing military, whether it was privateer forces harassing shipping lanes against assorted New World colonies on behalf of their European contractors, or Auxiliaries, levies, civilian and other standing irregular troops that are used as more expendable supplements to assist costly trained soldiers. Bypassing
3741-506: The 1960s — Operation Claret . The buckshot typically used in a combat shotgun spreads out to a greater or lesser degree depending on the barrel choke , and can be effective at ranges as far as 70 m (77 yd). The delivery of the large number of projectiles simultaneously makes the shotgun the most effective short range weapon commonly used, with a hit probability 45% greater than a sub-machine gun (5-round burst), and twice as great as an assault rifle (3-round burst). While each pellet
3828-401: The 3 to 5 shots normal with sporting or hunting shotguns. Most combat shotguns have tubular magazines mounted underneath the barrel. These are identical to those of hunting shotguns, except for being longer to hold more ammunition. Some recent designs have detachable box magazines. Combat shotguns are mostly similar to the police riot shotgun . The military versions may have provisions to mount
3915-533: The Australians and Dalforce, and were forced to retreat. Over sixty men (out of about 150) from the company managed to survive the initial Japanese landings on the night of 8 February by retreating down Lim Chu Kang Road and then swimming across the tributaries of the Kranji river to make it to Choa Chu Kang Road . Madam Cheng Seang Ho , nicknamed the legendary Passionaria of Malaya (after La Pasionaria of
4002-410: The Chinese volunteers in Dalforce fought, earning them the nickname Dalley's Desperadoes . Dalley had suggested creating a guerrilla network in 1940 but it was not until about a year later, when the Japanese invasion was imminent, did it become apparent that the official recruitment of the local Chinese against the Japanese was essential. The British Government relented and on 25 December 1941, Dalforce
4089-636: The Germanic tribesmen led by the former auxiliary officer Arminius . During the decline of the Roman Empire , irregulars made up an ever-increasing proportion of the Roman military. At the end of the Western Empire, there was little difference between the Roman military and the barbarians across the borders. Following Napoleon 's modernisation of warfare with the invention of conscription ,
4176-446: The Japanese invaded Singapore. Female members were given the responsibility of simple tasks like first aid , cooking, relaying messages and other menial tasks. The British actually intended to fully equip the troops in preparation for the invasion. This became impossible when the liner SS Empress of Asia , which carried the supplies, was sunk by Japanese aircraft en route to Singapore from Bombay . According to officer Frank Brewer ,
4263-546: The Kurdish Sunni Islamist group Ansar al-Islam at the Iraq-Iran border and as an irregular force against Saddam Hussein during the war in Iraq in 2003. Irregular civilian volunteers also played a large role in the Battle of Kyiv during the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Combat shotgun While the sporting shotgun traces its ancestry back to the fowling piece , which was a refinement of
4350-773: The Overseas Chinese Guard Force was also trained by British officers. Ian Morrison , the Malayan correspondent for The Times in 1942, also noted that they were "trained, and placed in formations according to their political sympathies. There was one school where the Kuomintang adherents were trained, another where the Communists were trained". Dalforce was not issued uniforms worn by Commonwealth troops. Instead, they had to wear tailored clothing and bandanas to prevent friendly fire . A few men tied
4437-668: The US army during World War II, the most popular being the M97 and M1912 . One disadvantage of using a shotgun in the Pacific Theatre was the way of carrying the shotshells. The standard rifle pouches that carried shotshells were small, only about 30 rounds if carried vertically. Some Marines carried the shells in SL-3 grenade vests from World War I, but these vests were hard to come by. Also used were modified bandoliers and whatever came to hand or could be improvised. Another disadvantage
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#17328026188554524-631: The United States, the term special forces does not generally imply a force that is trained to fight as guerillas and insurgents. Originally, the United States Special Forces were created to serve as a cadre around which stay-behind resistance forces could be built in the event of a communist victory in Europe or elsewhere. The United States Special Forces and the CIA's Special Activities Center can trace their lineage to
4611-527: The armed forces of a party to an armed conflict, international or domestic, but not belonging to that party's regular forces and operating inside or outside of their own territory, even if the territory is under occupation. The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 uses "regular armed forces " as a critical distinction. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a non-governmental organization primarily responsible for and most closely associated with
4698-664: The basic training of irregulars. The regulars would only provide the core military in the major battles; irregulars would provide all other combat duties. Notable examples of regulars relying on irregulars include Bashi-bazouk units in the Ottoman Empire , auxiliary cohorts of Germanic peoples in the Roman Empire , Cossacks in the Russian Empire , and Native American forces in the American frontier of
4785-407: The blunderbuss declined, the United States military began loading smaller lead shot ( buckshot ) in combination with their larger bullets, a combination known as " buck and ball ". The buck and ball load was used extensively by Americans at the Battle of New Orleans in 1814 and was partially responsible for the disparate casualty rates between American and British forces. The advantage of this loading
4872-654: The claims, and threatened reprisals in kind if any US troops were executed for possession of a shotgun. The shotgun was used by Allied forces and Allied-supported partisans in all theaters of combat in World War II, and both pump and semi-automatic shotguns are currently issued to all branches of the US military; they have also been used in subsequent conflicts by French, British, Australian, and New Zealand forces, as well as many guerrillas and insurgents throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Latin and South America, and Southeast Asia. Six different model of shotguns were accepted in
4959-400: The count of enemy troops, making the odds seem much worse than they were. This may be accidental; counts of friendly troops often came from official regular army rolls that exclude unofficial forces, while enemy strength often came from visual estimates, where the distinction between regular and irregular were lost. If irregular forces overwhelm regulars, records of the defeat are often lost in
5046-420: The divided leadership between the Communist Chinese and the Kuomintang , the army was divided into two sections. One is the Singapore Overseas Chinese Volunteer Army, which was mainly Communist and under direct command of Dalley, and the smaller Guomindang Overseas Chinese Guard Force under the command of Chinese Nationalist Major Hu Tie Jun. Both sections comprised a total strength not exceeding 1,500 men, and
5133-469: The drafting and successful completion of the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War ("GPW"). The ICRC provided commentary saying that "regular armed forces" satisfy four Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) (Hague IV) conditions. In other words, "regular forces" must satisfy the following criteria: By extension, combat forces that do not satisfy these criteria are termed "irregular forces". The term "irregular military" describes
5220-586: The higher-level organizational training and equipment that is part of regular army. This usually makes irregulars ineffective in direct, main-line combat, the typical focus of more standard armed forces. Other things being equal, major battles between regulars and irregulars heavily favor the regulars. However, irregulars can excel at many other combat duties besides main-line combat, such as scouting , skirmishing , harassing , pursuing, rear-guard actions, cutting supply, sabotage , raids , ambushes and underground resistance . Experienced irregulars often surpass
5307-407: The introduction of plastic hulls in the early 1960s. General Alexander Patch was seen armed with a Winchester shotgun when he personally led an attack in Guadalcanal . In the jungle warfare during the Malayan Emergency , the British Army and local forces of Malaya used shotguns to great effect due to limited space in the jungles and frequent close combat. In the Vietnam War , the shotgun
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#17328026188555394-409: The legitimate military and taking up arms is an extreme measure. The motivation for doing so is often used as the basis of the primary label for any irregular military. Different terms come into and out of fashion, based on political and emotional associations that develop. Here is a list of such terms, which is organized more or less from oldest to latest: Intense debates can build up over which term
5481-470: The local Chinese. He praised Dalforce but still maintained that it had little impact in the battle. Dalley was one of the people who was ordered to be evacuated from Singapore before its capitulation. He boarded a forty-foot Royal Navy motor launch known as the Mary Rose at Keppel Harbour , where it would sail to Palembang , Sumatra , part of the Dutch East Indies . The Mary Rose, commanded by veteran naval officer Captain George Mulock left Singapore
5568-423: The modern concept of the combat shotgun was fully developed by the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The trench gun , as it was called, was a short-barreled pump action shotgun loaded with 6 rounds containing antimony -hardened 00 buckshot , and equipped with a bayonet. The M1897 and M1912 also could be slam fired : the weapon having no trigger disconnector , shells could be fired one after
5655-478: The new Indian Army that was organized following the great Indian Rebellion of 1857. Before 1867, military units in Canada consisted of British units of volunteers. During French rule, small local volunteer militia units or colonial militias were used to provide defence needs. During British control of various local militias, the Provincial Marine were used to support British regular forces in Canada. Use of large irregular forces featured heavily in wars such as
5742-407: The opportunity presents itself. A common doctrine is "shoot one, load one": load a shell immediately after every shot (when this does not jeopardize the operator's safety), to ensure that the shotgun is fully loaded at all times; this ensures that the operator has a full magazine at their disposal in case of emergencies when they may not be able to reload in between shots. A pistol is also advised as
5829-501: The other simply by working the slide if the trigger was held down, though in the heat of combat one could easily short-stroke the weapon and jam it. When fighting within a trench, the shorter shotgun could be rapidly turned and fired in both directions along the trench axis. The shotguns elicited a diplomatic protest from the German government, claiming the shotguns caused excessive injury, and that any troops found in possession of them would be subject to execution. The US Government rejected
5916-403: The point of becoming the new regular army if it wins. Most conventional military officers and militaries are wary of using irregular military forces and see them as unreliable, of doubtful military usefulness, and prone to committing atrocities leading to retaliation in kind. Usually, such forces are raised outside the regular military like the British SOE during World War II and, more recently,
6003-455: The regular army in these functions. By avoiding formal battles, irregulars have sometimes harassed high quality armies to destruction. The total effect of irregulars is often underestimated. Since the military actions of irregulars are often small and unofficial, they are underreported or even overlooked. Even when engaged by regular armies, some military histories exclude all irregulars when counting friendly troops, but include irregulars in
6090-535: The resulting chaos. By definition, "irregular" is understood in contrast to "regular armies", which grew slowly from personal bodyguards or elite militia. In Ancient warfare , most civilized nations relied heavily on irregulars to augment their small regular army. Even in advanced civilizations, the irregulars commonly outnumbered the regular army. Sometimes entire tribal armies of irregulars were brought in from internal native or neighboring cultures, especially ones that still had an active hunting tradition to provide
6177-820: The shotgun is immediately dropped (retained by a sling) and replaced by another weapon after the door has been breached. By not cycling the action after firing the final breaching rounds (multiple rounds are often required) the pump shotgun is left without a loaded round in the chamber, unlike a semiautomatic shotgun. Due to the widespread use of the shotgun as a sporting firearm, it is used in guerrilla warfare and other forms of asymmetric warfare . Che Guevara , in his 1961 book Guerrilla Warfare , notes that shotgun ammunition can be obtained by guerrillas even in times of war, and that shotguns loaded with heavy shot are highly effective against unarmored troop transport vehicles. He recommends that suburban guerrilla bands should be armed with easily concealable weapons, such as handguns and
6264-463: The shotgun was the preferred method of door breaching by infantry units, ideally with a frangible breaching slug. For the breaching role, shorter barrels are preferred, as they are more easily handled in tight quarters. Limited ammunition capacity is one of the primary downsides of the combat shotgun. While box magazines are available in some models (such as shotgun derivatives of the AK-47 design, like
6351-711: The standard issue for each soldier would have been a combat shotgun , seven rounds of ammunition and two grenades. There weren't enough ordinary rifles to be handed out to them. I know one company had as many as three different types of sporting guns, this made it very difficult to try and teach [the men] how these things operate in a very short time. Training was also conducted at the Special Operations Executive (SOE) 101 Special Training School in Singapore, to prepare another unit of local Chinese for jungle warfare in Malaya in December 1941. Because it
6438-565: The surrender of Singapore by General Arthur Percival General Officer Commanding Malaya, Dalley assembled Dalforce troops at Kim Yam Road Headquarters and ordered them to disband. The surviving members were each paid ten Straits dollars for their services. Dalforce is estimated to have suffered 300 casualties, of which 134 known killed were compiled by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1956. Many men and women would be captured, tortured and executed in
6525-533: The traditions of Mughal cavalry, which had a political purpose because it absorbed pockets of cavalrymen who might otherwise become disaffected plunderers. These were less formally drilled and had fewer British officers (sometimes only three or four per regiment) than the "regular" sepoys in British service. This system enabled the Indian officers to achieve greater responsibility than their counterparts in regular regiments. Promotion for both Indian and British officers
6612-400: The use of grenade launching cups, special launching cartridges and a less-lethal grenade. There are a number of experimental rounds currently under development and consideration by the US military, including explosive rounds and stand-off breaching rounds, which could further improve the range and flexibility of the combat shotgun. There are two primary modes of operation for combat shotguns,
6699-404: The use of irregular military tactics by regular military units. In his book On Guerrilla Warfare , Mao described seven types of Guerilla units, and argues that "regular army units temporarily detailed for the purpose (of guerilla warfare)," "regular army units permanently detailed (for the purpose of guerilla warfare)," and bands of guerillas created "through a combination of a regular army unit and
6786-436: Was also attached to the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade which took part in the Battle of Pasir Panjang . Company No. 1, stationed at the end of Jurong Road was involved in action even before the invasion, repulsing two waves of Japanese patrol boats. In the first incident, the patrol boats retreated after taking fire. On the next day, the night of 6 February 1942, the company exchanged fire with about thirty Japanese soldiers, but
6873-546: Was also involved in friendly fire with the 44th Indian Brigade while both were retreating along the lower areas of the Jurong river. Company No. 2s first military engagement also occurred on the night of 6 February 1942. The company's first and second platoons were able to repulse an approaching group of Japanese rubber boats (each carrying one soldier), sinking three out of five of the rafts . They later returned with motorised rubber rafts, but were discovered and attacked by both
6960-460: Was for efficiency and energy, rather than by seniority as elsewhere in the EIC's armies. In irregular cavalry the Indian troopers provided their horses under the silladar system. The result was a loose collection of regiments which in general were more effective in the field than their regular counterparts. These irregular units were also cheaper to raise and maintain and as a result many survived into
7047-605: Was known to the British colonial administration as Dalforce, after its chief instructor and commanding officer, John Dalley, whereas the Chinese in Singapore only knew it as the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army. This formation took part in the Battle of Singapore and some members conducted a guerrilla campaign against Japanese forces during the Japanese occupation . The British noted how ferociously
7134-524: Was later captured and executed by the Kempeitai. The unit suffered severe casualties due to lack of training, equipment and armament. The Japanese despised Dalforce bitterly, deciding to use them as an excuse for their treatment of the Chinese population, although this behaviour was instigated by the Kempeitai rather than by Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita . On 13 February 1942, two days before
7221-502: Was no longer possible to deploy them to Malaya, many were incorporated into Dalforce. Dalforce had a total of five companies in Singapore, each containing about a hundred troops: Dalforce volunteers were deployed to the frontline on 5 February. They fought at Sarimbun Beach , Bukit Timah , as well as the Woodlands and Kranji areas. They were mostly used to patrol mangrove swamps where enemy landings might be made. A Dalforce unit
7308-457: Was officially established, ignoring the fact that the existing Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army had been in existence under Chinese leadership since at least 1939. John Dalley, together with his fellow British officers, began training in Johore in mid-January 1942 with a force of 200 men. By the time the Japanese invaded, Dalforce numbered 4,000 resistance fighters. Due to
7395-440: Was paper-hulled shotshells , which would swell when they became damp in a rainy or humid environment, and would not fit into the chamber even after drying out. Commercial paper hulls were later impregnated with wax to make them water resistant, but in combat the heat from rapid firing would cause the wax to melt, often resulting in a jammed gun. Military-issue shotshells were usually made entirely of brass to avoid these issues, until
7482-406: Was that it had a greater chance of hitting the enemy, thus taking wounded soldiers out of a fight. The disadvantage of this load was that the buckshot did not cause as severe wounds at longer ranges, and contemporary accounts show many of the British wounded recovering quickly as they had been struck by the buckshot rather than the ball. Fowling pieces were commonly used by militias, for example during
7569-549: Was used as an individual weapon in the American army during jungle patrol and urban warfare like the Tet Offensive . During the Somalian conflict in 1992, the US task forces tested out a new type of Remington shotgun called Ciener Ultimate Over/Under , which was an under-barrel attachment for the standard M16 variants during Operation Gothic Serpent . The idea was for a soldier in an entry team to be able to breach
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