FLYING COLUMN

flying column, in military organization, an independent corps of troops usually composed of all arms, to which a particular task is assigned. it is almost always composed in the course of operations, out of the troops immediately available. mobility being its _raison d'etre_, a flying column is when possible composed of picked men and horses accompanied with the barest minimum of baggage. the term is usually, though not necessarily, applied to forces under the strength of a brigade. the "mobile columns" employed by the british in the south african war of 1899-1902, were usually of the strength of two battalions of infantry, a battery of artillery, and a squadron of cavalry--almost exactly half that of a mixed brigade. flying columns are mostly used in savage or guerrilla warfare. "flying dutchman," a spectre-ship popularly believed to haunt the waters around the cape of good hope. the legend has several variants, but the commonest is that which declares that the captain of the vessel, vanderdecken, was condemned for his blasphemy to sail round the cape for ever, unable to "make" a port. in the dutch version the skipper is the ghost of the dutch seaman van straaten. the appearance of the "flying dutchman" is considered by sailors as ominous of disaster. the german legend makes one herr von falkenberg the hero, and alleges that he is condemned to sail for ever around the north sea, on a ship without helm or steersman, playing at dice for his soul with the devil. sir walter scott says the "flying dutchman" was originally a vessel laden with bullion. a murder was committed on board, and thereafter the plague broke out among the crew, which closed all ports to the ill-fated craft. the legend has been used by wagner in his opera _der fliegende hollander_.