Field craft

• Ambushes Definition 


  An ambush is a surprise attack, by a force laying in wait, upon a moving or temporarily halted enemy
• Types of Ambush

  • Deliberate: This is when the task of doing an ambush is given well in advance, allowing sufficient time for planning and preparation
  • Immediate: An immediate ambush is in response to “hot” information, or conducted as a contact drill, with little to no time for preparation and planning
• Ambush Sites

  • Known enemy routes
  • Administration areas and supply/water points
  • Places where vegetational changes occur e.g. the edge of a forest
  • Approaches to own bases and defensive position, and the withdrawal route from own ambush sights to catch enemy in follow up
• Principles of ambushing


  • Good intelligence
  • Thoroughly planning and preparation
  • Security
  • Concealment
  • Good Control
  • Discipline
• Good intelligence


  • Ambushes should only be set when there is a good chance of contact with enemy based on good intelligence
• Thoroughly planning and preparation

  1. Recce must be carefully planned and thorough

  2. All the main actions of an ambush must be well rehearsed
• Security


  • Thoughtless recce will betray the position of the ambush
  • The ambush site must be chosen to minimise the chances of being surprised
  • Those carrying out the ambush must themselves be able to meet an enemy attack if necessary
• Concealment


  • Avoid leaving signs within the ambush area
  • Excellent camouflage is required both day and night
• Good Control


  • All members of the ambush must know the plan in detail
  • All signals, together with the plan for springing the ambush, must be kept simple, and be thoroughly rehearsed
• Discipline


  • The ambush will only be successful if all members are alert, make no noise and restrict all movement
  • Reaction to signals must be fast and weapons ready to fire at a moment's notice
• Basic ambush

  • Triangular
  • T-shaped
  • Linear
• Tasks of an ambush

  • Deny enemy patrols freedom of action
  • Harass or disrupt enemy working parties
  • Distract enemy attention as part of a deception plan
• Formation of an ambush

  There are three parties in an ambush. The left cut-off, which will be formed of a scout and a rifleman, the right cut-off, which will be formed of a scout and a rifleman, and the killing group, which will be formed of the IC, 2IC and both gunners. The killing group must contain at least 50% of the sections firepower, hence why the gunners with the more powerful weapons are members of this group
• Preparation (pawperso)

  • Protection
  • Ammunition
  • Weapons
  • Personal camouflage
  • Equipment
  • Radios
  • Specialist equipment
  • Orders
• 6 section battle drills

  • Preparation (pawperso)
  • Reaction to enemy fire
  • enemy location
  • suppress the enemy
  • Attack/assault
  • Regroup/Reorg
• Types of Fire Control Orders

  • Full - Group, Range, Indication - type of fire - rapid 30RPM deliberate 10 RPM ripple - changeable
  • Brief: indication + type of fire
  • Individual: for one person
  • Delayed - usually for ambushes, watch and shoot, on my mark etc.
• Aid to Judging Distance

  • Bracketing (Guessing the furthest distance it could be and the shorter, then taking an average. This can be done as a group to get more accurate average (unit average))
  • Halving (figuring out the distance halfway there and then doubling it)
  • Key Ranges (Knowing the distance to one object and then working out the distance to an object near it to work out the total distance)
  • Unit average ( Bracketing as a group)
• Objects are farther than they appear when

  • The light is bad or the sun is shining in the observers eyes
  • They are small in comparison with the surroundings
  • Looking across a valley or down a road or track
  • The observer is lying down
• Objects appear closer when

  • The light is bright or the sun is shining behind the observer
  • They are large in comparison to their surroundings
  • There is dead ground between the object and the observer
  • They are higher up than the observer
• Appearance Method

  • At 100m clear, in detail
  • At 200m clear in all detail, colour of skin and equipment identifiable
  • At 300m clear body outline, face colour good remain detail blurred
  • At 400m body outline clear, remaining detail blurred
  • At 500m body begins to taper, head becomes indistinct
  • At 600m body now wedge shape, no head apparent