Trench raiding

Trench raiding

Trench raiding was an often brutal feature of trench warfare that came into being in World War I. It was the practice of making small scale surprise attacks on enemy positions.

Typically, trench raids were carried out at night by small teams of men who would navigate across no-man's land and infiltrate enemy trench systems before returning to their own lines. Despite the fact that World War I was the first conflict to be fought by mechanized means, trench raiding was very similar to medieval warfare insofar as it was fought face-to-face and with crude weapons. Trench raiders were lightly equipped for quiet, speedy, unimpeded movement and armed themselves not only with modern weapons such as pistols, submachine guns and grenades, but also notably with bayonets, knives (including purpose-made trench knives), brass knuckles, and deadly homemade maces and clubs for swift and silent killing. Trench raiding had multiple purposes. Typically, the intention would be one or more of the following:

* kill, wound or capture enemy troops.
* destroy, disable or capture high value materiel eg machine guns such as the MG08.
* gather intelligence by seizing important documents (eg maps) or enemy officers for interrogation.
* reconnaissance for a future massed attack during daylight.
* keep the enemy feeling under threat during night-time hours, thereby reducing their efficiency and morale.
* maintain aggressiveness in troops by sending them on such missions.

ee also

* Hand-to-hand combat
* Peaceful Penetration
* Trench
* Trench warfare
* World War I
* World War II

External links

* [http://www.1914-1918.net/Diaries/wardiary-2msex.htm Detailed account of a trench raid in May 1916]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Trench raiding club — Trench raiding clubs were homemade mêlée weapons used by both the Allies and the Central Powers during World War I. Clubs were used during night time trench raiding expeditions as a quiet and effective way of killing or wounding enemy soldiers.… …   Wikipedia

  • Trench warfare — is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static. Trench warfare arose when a revolution in firepower was not matched by similar advances in mobility. The result was a slow and grueling form of… …   Wikipedia

  • Trench knife — Trench knives are either purpose made weapons, or are made from cut down (shortened) bayonets or swords, and intended for close quarter fighting, the design originating in the trench warfare of the First World War. They were particularly useful… …   Wikipedia

  • Trench code — In cryptography, trench codes were codes used for secrecy by field armies in World War I. A reasonably designed code is generally more difficult to crack than a classical cipher, but of course suffers from the difficulty of preparing,… …   Wikipedia

  • Commando — For other uses, see Commando (disambiguation). The French Navy commando unit Jaubert storms a naval vessel in a mock assault In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage,… …   Wikipedia

  • Raid (military) — Raid British commandos watch as an ammunition dump burns, Vågsøy 27 December 1941. Battlespace Land, Air, Sea Strategy Operational Raid, also …   Wikipedia

  • Peaceful Penetration — was an Australian tactic (though also used by the New Zealanders), which was a cross between trench raiding and patrolling. The aim was similar to trench raiding (namely, to gather prisoners, conduct reconnaissance, and to dominate no mans land) …   Wikipedia

  • Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial — Veterans Affairs Canada Commonwealth War Graves Commission …   Wikipedia

  • Mace (club) — A mace is a simple weapon that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful blows. A development of the club, a mace differs from a hammer in that the head of a mace is radially symmetric so that a blow can be delivered equally… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Canadian soldiers executed for military offences — First World WarDuring the First World War, members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were subject to British military discipline, which allowed execution by firing squad for crimes such as desertion or cowardice. During the war, 25 Canadian… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”