Talk:Withdrawal (military)

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Redirection from 'Retreat (military)' - sensible? (circular definition?)

I was wondering: would it not make more sense not to redirect from 'Retreat'? And if it has the exact same meaning (I, for one, always thought retreating was different from withdrawing), then why is there a reference in text to it?

"as part of a general retreat" - this part makes no sense, since I can't get to "retreat", as it redirects me back to 'withdrawal', thus forming a circular definition: "A withdrawal may be undertaken as part of a general (withdrawal) (...)". Someone check/correct this please?

85.221.140.237 (talk) 09:55, 17 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've now unlinked retreat (military) within the article. (3 years later! >.< ).

It would be good to get a more nuanced set of official/unofficial definitions of "retreat" vs "withdrawal", if any experts are watching this page. –Quiddity (talk) 21:39, 18 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Euphemisms for retreating

I'd be interested in seeing a section on euphemisms. Here are the citable and anecdotal details I've found in a casual google:

"Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction." - Major General Oliver P. Smith of the 1st Marine Division. [1] (often mis-attributed to MacArthur)
"Marines don't retreat, we simply advance to the rear!" - attributed to Lt. Gen. Lewis "Chesty" Puller (uncited anywhere that I can see.)
'"Canadians do not retreat!" the brigadier snapped. Oh, God, I thought, he's going to order us back. But then he continued, "You are moving to a more strategic position."'[2]
Advance to the Rear - comedy film from 1964
many articles from 2007 using the headline "Bush executes strategic advance in a rearward direction" (I'm not sure if this is riffing off an earlier headline somewhere, or just a much-mirrored blog post?)
a few people in forums talking about Russians using "Advance to the Rear" to avoid disobeying orders to "advance". (fears of SMERSH, etc)

I'm not sure what in that batch could be used, or if it's missing obvious pieces/quotes, so I'll just leave it here for now. –Quiddity (talk) 21:39, 18 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]