Toughest Military Units of the past 300 years

[perdurabo]

I would say Lisowszczycy or Husaria but they don't fit in time frames

[Gauntlet]

These guys went to every island in WWII. The Japanese were numerous and motivated like Hell's train. But the Marines landed on the beaches and while under a blanket of machine guns, artillery, and grenades... they moved on.
Iwo Jima really showed the courage of the Marines, they dove on grenades and ran through minefields, they took what it takes.
One Marine was charged by a Japanese Officer with a sword. While the sword was brought down upon the soldier, he grabed the blade and with a blooding hand, took that sword and stabbed the Jap Officer.
There are countless stories of bravery with the USMC but in reality all soldiers are tough (even the French ).

[Thorpe]

Excuse my spelling on this one.
1st The Chindits operating in Burma in WW2
2nd The SAS during ever conflict they have participated in.
3rd US Marines during WW2 running up beachs in the face of Japanese machine gun fire

[NcDeuce]

Wasn't that the all black division portrayed in the movie Glory?

And it was very aptly named, because the film was effing glorious.

Wasn't Malarkey (Band of Brothers) from Eugene, OR?

[NcDeuce]

British Paratroopers during Market Garden

Allied paratroopers were the shizit in Holland...

It's that damned British armor that f*cked up Market Garden.

[Gauntlet]

British Paratroopers during Market Garden

Allied paratroopers were the shizit in Holland...

It's that damned British armor that f*cked up Market Garden.

I saw the movie "A Bridge Too Far". Those British Soldiers in the building over looking the bridge were called the "Red Devils". These me would run into smoke when theres a machine gun blazin. That would take guts.

[Capt. Canada]

ok I apoligise if this has been stated already, I was scrolling rather fast. What about the 1st Special Service force - The Devils Brigade

[sethen]

I would vote for the South Carolina Militia During the revolution. I have read Forewards and Intros to books on the Special Forces and they all trace SF back to S.C. militia and Francis Marion. These guys were hard core Indian fighters. Whats most suprising is that it was multi racial adn atht no other American Military Units were like that untill the 1950's. We are talking about 1770-1780's so this was a unique group of fighters.

[California Joe]

I would vote for the South Carolina Militia During the revolution. I have read Forewards and Intros to books on the Special Forces and they all trace SF back to S.C. militia and Francis Marion. These guys were hard core Indian fighters. Whats most suprising is that it was multi racial adn atht no other American Military Units were like that untill the 1950's. We are talking about 1770-1780's so this was a unique group of fighters.

Robert Roger's Rangers predated them. Just sayin.....

[Loco]

I would vote for the South Carolina Militia During the revolution. I have read Forewards and Intros to books on the Special Forces and they all trace SF back to S.C. militia and Francis Marion. These guys were hard core Indian fighters. Whats most suprising is that it was multi racial adn atht no other American Military Units were like that untill the 1950's. We are talking about 1770-1780's so this was a unique group of fighters.

Actually, may be it was an exception in USA armed forces, but in America continent was rather frequent, I don´t mean all races had the same rights, but it´s a fact in spanish american provinces there were local militias with both white, indians, black and mixed people, and mixed people usually weren´t born as and "accident", interracial marriages were tolerated even they were promoted in many cases at the height of the late XVIII century. In the case of USA Revolution, I´m afraid is badly know the role played by spanish forces and supplies in powder, ammunition of every kind, uniforms, cash in gold currency, and a long etc.
Regarding the combatants, the war in what today is USA soil was held mainly by the strike force created by the governor of Nueva Orelans, Bernardo Gálvez, although the revolution war actually was a global war involving both the 13 colonies, GBritain, France and Spain with battles in the Mediterranean sea, all the Atlantic Ocean and all America, North and South, it wasn´t a local war in the east coast of USA. The figure of Bernardo Gálvez deserves a good study about him and being more reknown in USA. He was a tipical militar of the enlightment century, although he was of high class, he was a good student and had his baptism of fire very young in North Africa, risking his life without privileges, asecending because of his merits. The true interracial force in American revolution was built by Bernardo Gálvez, and it was really succesful, that force was filled with spanish from peninsula of regular infantry and from américa(the creoles) that had usually indians and spanish parents(the future mexicans), frenchs, indians, a big group of cubans and a group of american revolutionaries, true yankees, that descended the Mississippi to join that force in New Orleans, it´s said many of them were from Kentucky. The Gálvez column was very small at first and his first goal was gaining all control of Mississippi valley, capturing the british forts up along the river in fast atacks with light forces, being the most important ones Baton Rouge and Natchez, thus he could supply rebels safety throught the river. After that, he pulled to the east, along the Mexico Gulf coast, towards Mobile and Pensacola, and so he expelled all british forces of mexican gulf, because he controlled the continental shore and the gate to the gulf, that was Cuba being the island the main spanish base in west Atlantic, and a rich and well populated island too, many traders could send supplies from Cuba to rebels forces, and it was a safe spanish rearguard for both Gálvez column and reinforcements since the peninsula. Gálvez was a great leader in the battlefield, but the column he built was a skillful, bold and very well trained force, which could do long and fast walks, many times they surprised british soldiers who thought Gálvez´s soldiers still were very far from them, and I think this is more significant if we look at the different origins of his soldiers.

[Spearin]

Mad Mitch and his bloaks at Aden.

(Can anyone besides Argyll tell me who I'm referring to? :P)

[gaz]

Colonel Colin "Mad Mitch" Mitchell. I don't know much about him, it's just that my old boss named his son Mitchell after having read "Having been a soldier"....

[Burncycle]

442nd Regimental Combat Team

[Royal]

Colonel Colin "Mad Mitch" Mitchell. I don't know much about him, it's just that my old boss named his son Mitchell after having read "Having been a soldier"....

Lieutenant Colonel Colin "Mad Mitch" Mitchell, Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders when they retook the Crater in Aden in the summer of 1967.

Mitchell's subsequant lobbying of the press saved the Battalion from disbandment or amalgamation in one of the many rounds defence cuts we've suffered. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and became an MP.

[Spearin]

Royal gets a cookie Hope it doesn't get crushed in the Air Mail