Last Stands - Indians v Pakistanis and many more (1 Viewer)

[The Military Workshop]

I was looking up the Alamo on Wikipedia and it had a subject title of Last Stands. The introduction says
"Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, while also inflicting high casualties on the opponent. Apart from rare exceptions, such as Rorke's Drift and the Battle of Longewala, the defending force is usually annihilated
I then looked up the Battle of Longewala which I had never heard of. Brief info is :
5/6 Dec 1971 "The Indian 'A' company of 120 odd soldiers of the 23rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment, managed to hold a 2,000-3,000 strong assault force of the 51st Infantry Brigade of the Pakistani Army, backed by the 22nd Armoured Regiment, before the Indian Air Force flew in".
The Wikipedia list of Last Stands is at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_stand although Gallipoli could hardly be called a Last Stand in the sense of Rorkes Drift and the Alamo.
Thought some might be interested.
Regards
Brett

 

[trooper]

I should think every nation has such examples in it's history. Some of the lesser known ones are most interesting, Beecher's Island, the Shangani Patrol etc. And there must be some that are unrecorded, for example Major Elliott and his eighteen men who were abandoned by Custer at the Wa****a must have gone down fighting but there is little reference to it. the subject could make for an interesting series of dioramas.

 

[maddadicus]

I have always been a sentimental sucker for last stands, where the defenders die to the last man with their flags flying and such..Maybe, it would be fun to come up with a list...The square of the Old Guard at the end of Waterloo, etc...Michael

 

[aujj65]

Camerone Dandjous Last Stand - One of the most one sided skirmishes, on record, between the Mexican Army and a vastly outnumbered detachement of the French Foreign Legion.

Jeff

 

[Spitfrnd]

Camerone Dandjous Last Stand - One of the most one sided skirmishes, on record, between the Mexican Army and a vastly outnumbered detachement of the French Foreign Legion.

Jeff

Can you add some more on that one Jeff. It doesn't even come up in a Google search.

 

[aujj65]

Can you add some more on that one Jeff. It doesn't even come up in a Google search.

Sorry, perhaps I confused things here - its The Battle of Camarón where the FFL officer was called Dandjous.

Try this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camarón

Jeff

 

[lancer]

Another interesting last stand was at Gandamack during the 2nd (?) Afghan war in 1842. I think it was the 44th Ft. during the Cabul retreat.

 

[Scott]

Last Stand at Gurdas Nangal

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/last_stand_at_gurdas_nangal.html

The Last Stand of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment in Afghanistan 1880

http://www.garenewing.co.uk/angloafghanwar/articles/Maiwand66th_introduction.php

The Battle of Saragarhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragarhi

 

[marco55]

I use to have a couple books by the same guy with each chapter a last stand.Can't remember his name but I'm sure there are other books out there.
Mark

 

[Gazza]

The Siege of Malta, 1565 is a fantastic read; as the Muslim forces swept across the Med led by Solyman the Magnificent, only the little island of Malta stood alone.

The heroics of the knights of the Order of St John and the ordinary Maltese was amazing; they held out against all the odds; the stories of courage, bravery and self sacrifice are outstanding. The knights - to a man - regularly volunteered for what would be now classed as a suicide mission.

However, unlike most last stands they actually held out succesfully until Europe came to their aid.

The book is Wordsworth Military Library - it is a very moving read.

Of course centuries later, Malta would hold out again - this time against the Nazis and Italians; winning the George Cross from the UK.

 

[Nathan]

The Alamo, Khe Sahn, Thin Red Line?

 

[Scott]

The Eureka Stockade.

 

[eborris]

The Lawndale and Altgeld ***lords?

 

[Uthred]

I was looking up the Alamo on Wikipedia and it had a subject title of Last Stands. The introduction says
"Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, while also inflicting high casualties on the opponent. Apart from rare exceptions, such as Rorke's Drift and the Battle of Longewala, the defending force is usually annihilated
I then looked up the Battle of Longewala which I had never heard of. Brief info is :
5/6 Dec 1971 "The Indian 'A' company of 120 odd soldiers of the 23rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment, managed to hold a 2,000-3,000 strong assault force of the 51st Infantry Brigade of the Pakistani Army, backed by the 22nd Armoured Regiment, before the Indian Air Force flew in".
The Wikipedia list of Last Stands is at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_stand although Gallipoli could hardly be called a Last Stand in the sense of Rorkes Drift and the Alamo.
Thought some might be interested.
Regards
Brett

The wikipedia article on 'Last Stands' has a highly exagerated version of the Battle of Acosta Ñu. While this is not surprising, I'd rather see some light shed on the matter.

Acosta Ñu, fought during the War of the Triple Alliance in 1869, was a desperate gamble by Paraguayan dictator Lopez. He had a regiment with only 50-100 men left, so he used children taken from an orphanage (armed with mock weapons) to fill in the gaps, increasing its force to 600 men. Unfortunately these "troops" faced a 2,000 men Brazilian army that was in hot pursue of Lopez himself. The Brazilian army charged, and by the time Count D'Eu, the Brazilian commander, was informed children were being killed by his troops, it was too late for many of the boys who were already dead or wounded.

This could hardly be called a "last stand", since the children were dressed as soldiers, but didn't even had real weapons. They were suposed to look like soldiers from a distance, but not to fight. It was a massacre. I see no honor or glory in this battle, and I think last stands are all about honor and glory. Just my two cents on the subject.

Uthred

 

[Deitz]

The Lawndale and Altgeld ***lords?

I grew up in South Lawndale.

 

[Evzone]

Would the 'Glorious Gloucesters' during the Korean War or L' Battery at Nery in 1914 count??

 

[Rob]

Would the 'Glorious Gloucesters' during the Korean War or L' Battery at Nery in 1914 count??

Nery is a good one,they have one of the guns from this action at the IWM,the men who manned these guns on that day were very brave indeed.

Rob

 

[eborris]

I grew up in South Lawndale.

It's two street names in Chicago, not the suburb.

 

[Evzone]

Nery is a good one,they have one of the guns from this action at the IWM,the men who manned these guns on that day were very brave indeed.

Rob

This thread prompted me to blow the dust off the account I have of the encounter sitting on my bookshelf. I'd encourage anybody who isn't familiar with the action to 'gen up'. If it wasn't for the tragic loss of life on that fateful day it would be typically Boys Own stuff.

Half of the VC's awarded to the RA during WW1 were awarded to BEF batteries in 1914, so I'm led to believe.

 

[Ragnar]

The Eureka Stockade.

I like to think of Eureka Stockade as Australia's version of the Alamo (there was even a black&white movie made back in the 50's).

The Battle of Long Tan....ok not realy a last stand but talk about a fight.
108 ANZAC'S Vs 2500 screaming Viet Cong.