Spider hole

A spider hole is U.S. military slang for a small one-person foxhole, often camouflaged so that it can be used for ambushes. A spider hole is typically a shoulder-deep, protective, round hole, often covered by a camouflaged lid, in which a soldier can stand and fire a weapon. A spider hole differs from a foxhole in that a foxhole is usually deeper and its design emphasizes cover rather than concealment.

The term is usually understood to be an allusion to the camouflaged hole constructed by the trapdoor spider. According to US Marine Corps historian Major Chuck Melson, the term originated in the American Civil War, when it meant a hastily-dug foxhole. Spider holes were used extensively during World War II by Japanese forces in many Pacific battlefields, including Leyte in the Philippines and Iwo Jima. They were used chiefly to harass rear formations. Japanese troops in spider holes would often wait for the main advance to pass (sometimes for days on end) before launching their attacks. Some spider holes even contained primitive land mines that the Japanese would detonate in a suicide attack if a tank or other vehicle rolled over them.

Spider holes were also used to considerable effect by Vietnamese Communist fighters during the Vietnam War. The guerrillas would position themselves in spider holes between two or more U.S. or allied units. They would open fire on the U.S. troops from their spider holes and then close the lid, disguising the holeFact|date=July 2007. The U.S. troops would return fire in the direction of the guerrillas, inadvertently firing on other American units located in the same direction, who would in turn return fireFact|date=July 2007. The guerrillas would thereby draw the U.S. units into a fratricidal firefight, often causing heavy casualties and significantly demoralizing the survivorsFact|date=July 2007.

The American columnist William Safire claimed in the December 15, 2003 issue of the "New York Times" that the term originated in the Vietnam War. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60E1FFA3B580C768DDDAB0994DB404482] According to Safire, one of the characteristics of these holes was that they held a "clay pot large enough to hold a crouching man." If the pot broke, the soldier was exposed to attack from snakes or spiders, hence the name "spider hole". This claim seems dubious, considering its well-documented usage in earlier conflicts.

On December 13, 2003, U.S. troops in Iraq undertaking Operation Red Dawn discovered Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hiding in what was characterized as a spider hole [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/15/politics/15BTEX.html?ex=1173416400&en=4c2f76a1e31b9adc&ei=5070] in a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit.

ee also

* Defensive fighting position
* Operation Red Dawn