Actually the link below has been changed but still works. It first takes you to an article called "retreat security, I am your worst nightmare." by Jeff T. It is an eye opening read for those of you who plan on holding where you are (bugging in). . at the very bottom of the page you will find additional links which include; "The defense of Duffer's drift". It is actually a dated (1905) Army training short story. This little booklet was my first attempt at studying perimeter defense. It's a captivating narative that lets you live vicariously through the man who makes the mistakes -- then you get to see how the defense is improved iteratively. It was published in 1905 so the English/terminology takes some thought and, sometimes, a dictionary. It was found on SurvivalBlog in a great guest article (link) describing retreat security from the villian's point-of-view. One of the links given for further reading by the author (Jeff T -- probably Jeff Trassel) was the above booklet of maybe 40 pages (The Defence of Duffer's Drift). There were also other links of interest that also look quite helpful. I've read it one time already, but I've got a thick skull that needs refreshing quite often to remember anything.
Re: The Defence of Duffer's Drift I first read this at either the US Army's Basic Non Commisioned Officers course of the Advanced NCO Course, both of which I took at the Fort Benning Infantry School and Center. It was written well after the actual Rork's Drift engagement of the Zulu Wars in January 1879, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rorke's_Drift A really good movie, "Zulu" pretty accvurately portrayed the actual fight. (It was also my first exposure to "Men of Harlech" another favorite "let's go to war" songs) Here's a link where you can get a pdf copy of the actual Fleet Marine Force Field Manual: http://www.marines.mil/news/publications/Documents/FMFRP 12-33 The Defense of Duffer's Drift.pdf It gives the reader a chance to view different options of how to build a defense and why certain options are the wrong ones.
Re: The Defence of Duffer's Drift This really is a good book. For those that arent that great or fast of readers it is a relatively short book as well. It is on the commandants reading list for the USMC if that helps at all.
tps://ia801000.us.archive.org/29/items/FMFRP1233TheDefenseOfDuffersDrift/FMFRP 12-33 The Defense of Duffer's New link to download publication..
