List of raids

edit

A military raid is a mission where the main objective is to demoralize, destroy valuable enemy installations, free prisoners, gather intelligence, or capture or kill specific personnel. This contrasts to regular military operations where the end goal is to capture territory and advance. Raids are a quick attack, relying heavily on the element of surprise to achieve their objective. After the success or failure of the mission, the raiding force will attempt to retreat to friendly territory before the enemy is able to co-ordinate a counterattack.

Raids are favored by guerrilla, irregular, or special forces. Due to the disproportional affect that a raid can have on an enemy, relative to the attacker's strength and the duration of the attack, raids are a favored tactic in irregular warfare.

List of land-based raids

edit

This page contains a list of military raids, not including air raids, sorted by the date at which they started:

Name Date Attackers Defenders Outcome
Mongol Raid into Hungary 1241 Mongol Empire   Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Croatia

  Teutonic Knights

  Knights Templar

Parts of the Kingdom of Hungary controlled by the Mongol Empire
Mongol Raid into Lithuania 1259 Mongol Empire Grand Duchy of Lithuania Lithuania left mostly untouched by the Mongol raid
Mongol raid into Poland 1259 Mongol Empire   Polish states and allies Tactical Mongol victory
Mongol invasion of Thrace 1265 Mongol Empire Thrace Thrace plundered by the Mongols
Second Mongol invasion of Lithuania 1275 Mongol Empire Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Third Mongol invasion of Poland 1287   Golden Horde
  Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia
  Kingdom of Poland
  Kingdom of Hungary
Polish victory; Mongol invasion repulsed
Chaseabout Raid 26 August 1565   Kingdom of Scotland Protestant rebels Victory for Mary, Queen of Scots
Raid of the Redeswire 7 July 1575   Kingdom of Scotland   Kingdom of England Scottish victory
Raid of Ruthven 27 August 1582 Presbyterian nobles Kingdom of Scotland Short-lived Presbyterian victory
Raid on the Medway 6 June 1667   Dutch Republic   Kingdom of England Decisive Dutch victory
Raid on Deerfield 29 February 1704   New England   French colonists
 Abenaki
 Iroquois
 Wyandot
 Pocumtuc
 Pennacook
French and Native American victory
Raid on Pickawillany 21 June 1752   France

Ojibwa

Ottawa

  Great Britain

Miami People

French allied victory
Meigs Raid 24 May 1777   United States   Great Britain American victory
Carleton's Raid 24 October 1778   Great Britain   United States
  Vermont Republic
British victory
Cherry Valley massacre 11 November 1778   Great Britain
 Seneca tribe
 Mohawk
  United States British victory
Royalton raid 16 October 1780   Great Britain   Vermont Republic British victory
Raid on Gananoque 21 September 1812   United States   Upper Canada American victory
Raid on Elizabethtown 7 February 1813   United States   United Kingdom American victory
Raid on Fort Oswego 6 May 1814   United Kingdom   United States British victory
Raid on Alexandria 20 August 1814   United Kingdom   United States British victory
Andrews' Raid 12 April 1862   United States (Union)   CSA (Confederacy) Union victory
Grierson's Raid 17 April 1863   United States (Union)   CSA (Confederacy) Union victory
Streight's Raid 30 April 1863   United States (Union)   CSA (Confederacy) Confederate victory
Morgan's Raid 11 June 1863   CSA (Confederacy)   United States (Union) Union victory
Quantrill's Raid 21 August 1863   CSA (Confederacy)   United States (Union) Confederate victory
St. Albans Raid 19 October 1864   CSA (Confederacy)   United States (Union) Confederate victory
Shelby's Raid (1863) 2 September 1863   CSA (Confederacy)   United States (Union) Confederate victory
Price's Raid 27 September 1864   CSA (Confederacy)   United States (Union) Union victory
Wilson's Raid 22 March 1865   United States (Union)   CSA (Confederacy) Union victory
Fenian raids April 1866   Fenian Brotherhood   British Empire Stalemate; Fenian raids cease
Warren Wagon Train raid 18 May 1871 Kiowa   United States Native American victory
Jesse James Northfield Raid 6 September 1876 Law enforcement James-Younger Gang Destruction of the gang
Jameson Raid 29 December 1895   Cecil Rhodes
  Leander Starr Jameson
  Reform Committee
  South African Republic South African victory
Brownsville Affair 13 August 1906 Black soldiers White civilians 1 white civilian is killed; 167 black soldiers are dishonorably discharged
Bezdany raid 26 September 1908 Polish revolutionaries Russian Empire Polish success
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby 16 December 1914   United Kingdom   German Empire German victory
Russian raid on Gotland 2 July 1915   Russian Empire

  United Kingdom

  German Empire Allied victory
Zeebrugge Raid 23 April 1915   United Kingdom   German Empire Indecisive
Malgaç Raid 16 June 1919   Kuva-yi Milliye   Kingdom of Greece Turkish victory
Soviet raid on Stołpce 3 August 1924   Soviet Union   Poland Soviet victory
Chittagong armoury raid 18 April 1930 Indian revolutionaries Chittagong police force Revolutionaries fail to complete objective
Christmas Raid 23 December 1939   Irish Republican Army (IRA)   Irish Army Initial completion of objectives; equipment recovered shortly after
Operation Ambassador 14 July 1940   United Kingdom   Nazi Germany Nazi victory
Operation Colossus 10 February 1941   United Kingdom   Italy British victory
Operation Claymore 4 March 1941   United Kingdom
  Norway
  Nazi Germany British victory
Operation Savanna 15 March 1941   United Kingdom
  Free France
  Nazi Germany Nazi victory
Bardia raid 19-20 April 1941   United Kingdom
  Australia
  Nazi Germany
  Italy
Allied victory
Raid on Alexandria (1941) 19 December 1941   United Kingdom   Italy Italian victory
Operation Anklet 26 December 1941  United Kingdom
  Norway
  Poland
  Nazi Germany Allied victory
Operation Archery 27 December 1941   United Kingdom
  Norway
  Nazi Germany Allied victory
St. Nazaire Raid 27 March 1942   United Kingdom   Nazi Germany British victory (all objectives complete)
Indian Ocean raid 31 March 1942   Empire of Japan   United Kingdom
  Australia
  Netherlands Netherlands
  United States
  Canada
Japanese victory
Operation Albumen 7-8 June 1942, 4-5 July 1943   United Kingdom,   Greece,   Free French   Nazi Germany Allied victory
Makin Island raid 17 August 1942   United States   Empire of Japan American victory
Dieppe Raid 19 August 1942   Canada
  United Kingdom
  Poland
  Nazi Germany German victory
Tatsinskaya Raid 16 December 1942   Soviet Union   Nazi Germany Soviet victory
Operation Chestnut 12 July 1943   United Kingdom   Italy British failure
The Gran Sasso Raid 12 September 1943   Nazi Germany   Italy Mussolini successfully rescued
Operation Jaywick 26 September 1943 Z Special Unit (Allies)   Empire of Japan Allied victory
Operation Begonia 2 October 1943   United Kingdom   Italy 50 POWs rescued
Operation Candytuft 27 October 1943   United Kingdom   Italy

  Nazi Germany

British victory
Operation Saxifrage 27 October 1943   United Kingdom   Italy Rail lines successfully cut
Raid on Choiseul 28 October 1943   United States
  Australia
  Empire of Japan Indecisive
Operation Baobab 30 January 1944   United Kingdom   Italy British victory
Operation Cooney 7 June 1944   Free French Forces   Nazi Germany Tactically indecisive

Strategic Allied victory

Operation Gaff 25 June 1944   United Kingdom   Nazi Germany Objective not completed
Raid on Symi 13-15 July 1944   United Kingdom
  Kingdom of Greece
  Nazi Germany
  Italian Social Republic
Allied victory
Operation Dunhill 3 August 1944   United Kingdom   Nazi Germany Objectives completed
Raid at Ožbalt 31 August 1944   Slovene Partisans   Nazi Germany Slovene victory
Operation Greif 16 December 1944   Nazi Germany   United Kingdom

  United States

German failure
Raid at Cabanatuan 30 January 1945   United States   Empire of Japan Allied victory; 552 POWs liberated
Operation Cold Comfort 17 February 1945   United Kingdom   Nazi Germany British failure
Raid at Los Baños 23 February   United States   Empire of Japan Allied victory; 2,147 Allied civilians and military personnel liberated
Granville Raid 8 March 1945   Nazi Germany   United States

  United Kingdom

German victory
Operation Tombola 23 March 1945   United Kingdom

Italian resistance movement

  Nazi Germany Allied victory
Operation Roast 1 April 1945   United Kingdom   Nazi Germany British victory
Operation Claret July 1964 - July 1966   United Kingdom   Indonesia Objective complete; Indonesian forces kept off balance
Operation Ivory Coast 21 November 1970   United States   North Vietnam Mission failure
Operation Green Sea 22 November 1970   Portuguese Military
  Guinean dissident forces
  Guinean People's Militia
  PAIGC
Limited Portuguese success; liberation of all 26 POWs and enemy naval and air assets destroyed
Operation Entebbe 3 July 1976   Israel Mission successful; 102 of 106 hostages rescued
Operation Eland 9 August 1976   Rhodesia   ZANLA (ZANU)

  Mozambique

Decisive Rhodesian victory
Operation Dingo 23-25 November 1977   Rhodesia   Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army Decisive Rhodesian victory
Battle of Cassinga 4 May 1978   South Africa   SWAPO,
  Cuba
South African victory
Operation Eagle Claw 24 April 1980   United States   Iran Mission failure
Operation Nimrod 5 May 1980   United Kingdom Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan (DRFLA) Mission successful; 24 of 26 hostages rescued
Raid on Pebble Island 14 May 1982   United Kingdom   Argentina British victory
Operation El Dorado Canyon 14-15 April 1986   United States   Libya Decisive American victory
Operation Flavius 6 March 1988   United Kingdom Provisional Irish Republican Army 3 IRA paramilitaries killed
Operation Acid Gambit 20 December 199   United States   Panama Mission successful; hostage rescued
Raid at Renacer Prison 20 December 1989   United States   Panama Defense Force Mission successful; 64 hostages rescued
Borovo Selo raid 2 May 1991   Croatia   SAO Krajina
  White Eagles
SAO Krajina and White Eagles victory
Battle of Mogadishu 3 October 1993   UNOSOM II   Somali National Alliance (SNA)
  Al-Qaeda
Strategic SNA victory
Operation Barras 10 September 2000   United Kingdom West Side Boys Mission successful; 5 hostages and 21 additional civilians rescued
Operation Condor 17 May 2002   United Kingdom   Taliban insurgents
  Al-Qaeda
British victory
2004 Nazran raid 21 June 2004   Caucasian Front
  Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
  Russian Federation Chechen and Ingush separatist victory
2004 Avtury raid 12 July 2004   Chechen Republic of Ichkeria   Arab Mujahideen   Chechen Republic
  Russian Federation
Rebel victory
2004 Grozny raid 21 August 2004   Chechen Republic
  Russian Federation
  Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Russian victory
Lake Tharthar raid 23 March 2005   New Iraqi Army

  United States

  Iraqi insurgents Iraqi security forces victory
2005 Nalchik raid 13 October 2005 Yarmuk Jamaat   Russian Federation Russian victory
Dalola raid 1 May 2006 Janjaweed Chad Janjaweed victory
Tyre raid 4 August 2006   Israel Defense Forces   Hezbollah Mission failure
2009 Baraawe raid 14 September 2009   United States   Al-Qaeda
  Al-Shabaab
American victory
Death of Osama bin Laden 2 May 2011   United States   Al-Qaeda American victory
Kunar Raid 17 February 2012   NATO   Taliban Mission failure; 6 civilian casualties
May 2015 U.S. special forces raid in Syria 15 May 2015   United States
  •   United Kingdom (surveillance)
  Daesh American victory