The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-20
NIGHT RA|D|NG ON
 THE BRITISH FRONT
Hazardous Work Requires
 Careful Training
IS LIKE CLOCKWORK
Information Secured Is of High est Value in Planning of the Greater Offensives Behind
 the Lines

London. June 15.-fSpeciaf Corrc- , spondence)-It is sometimes said that
 surprises has been eliminated from
 modern warfare. and in attacks on the
 grand scale secrecy is hard to secure.
 But attacks based on surprise arc
 carried out almost nightly on the Brit
 ish front These small offensiyes are the raids which are dismissed in q
 line or two in the communiques.
 Calculated surprises and not im-
 pulse is the note of these raids One occasionally hears tho legend of a fear less and adventurous subaltern vis- lting the enemy trench with no other | escort than an orderly, f1uttering the inmates and returning to the company | mess to enliven his friends with his yarn. But raids are not conceived ill
 that spirit Long before the actual incursion into the German line the scheme is carefully worked out A definite section of the enemy's posi- ton is selected. Scouting patrols arc
 sent out to gain information about the condition of the German defenses, the nature of the ground in front, it's a,- breaches and its possibilities of coa- cealment.
 The reports of the scout are sup plemented by airplane photograph
 maps. These reveal the system of trenches and enable the raiders to de- termine beforehand their route onco they have broken into the enemy's line. But much more is needed than
 knowledge of the enemy's position. The men who are to take part Ill the raid, unless they have had pre- vious experience. must be drilled in | the necessary movements. Usually this
 is done in billets behind the lines.
 They have "refresher" in trench ping. They are tested in moving in 1 silence across uneven ground in th.
 dark, in keeping in touch with @ne
 another, in passing obstacles rapid | ly and in finding selected parts of l trench.
 | After several rehearsals the raid
 may be practiced according to a time | table. The men are allowed a defl- | nite time to enter and make their way l along the enemy trench return to ral-
 lying point in the trench and finally l De clear. The reason for this is that
 in raids, infantry and artillery CO., | operate
 In due course the new hands have | become proficient. All arrangements are completed. The night is favorable; there is no moon and the enemy seem festful and unsuspicious. The raiders, | perhaps with blackened faces, are not | so much excited as exhilarated Brief questlon, answer and exclamation | make up whatever conversation there ls Suddenly our artillery fire bursts on the objective and on either flank | or it. The raiders leap over the par
 apet, pass through the wire and are l gone. And their comrades are left 10 think of them. What will they meet l with when the guns lift from the enemy's trench and they rush into 1t 1 10 execute in deadly earnest what pre- viously was only a drill?
 The gunners have heightened theiy range. Now Is the moment for the raid : CTS to rush forward, clear the wire, and enter the trench. Soon bombs are seen
 flashing at point where the artillery nre burst few minutes ago
 1 At length a figure looms up on the parapet He and others behind him drou down into the British trench These are the escort and a few prisoners Their
 comrades learn that the raiders got safe, | " into the German line, and were doing
 well. They feel hopeful, although they know that the return journey. made
 through lire. is usually much more dan- gerous than the outward journey They
 walt, and wait, and grow anxious again.
 At last they hear the ra' -ers just over the parapet and next moment they are l dropping in.
 | Their narrative then is quite disiointed
 one wishes to tell in detail how he dealt With Boche who refused when he was asked to leave his dug-out Another tells
 of his luck in finding telephone dug
 out and of how he wrecked it. Tonor-
 row the facts will be sorted out. That
 Is the work of the intelligence officer To
 the staff a raid Is forceful. aggressive scouting. The information derived from l 1t is of the highest value. But to the raiders themselves the chief reward is
 the assurance that the enemy in that
 particular sector will find sleep difficult l for sometime to come
 | The foregoing ap0liac to ora tr;x<s .x !trench raid. There are, of course. other varieties; from the little three or six
 men patrol expedition to the full dress
 show in which half battalion of in-
 fantry and number of batteries of ar. tillery cooperate.