Night Patrols and Raids
Night patrols and raids always took place at night because it was really only safe to come out at night, in the dark. The patrols were made up of small groups of men who would crawl out of the trenches and inch toward "no man's land". (This would be the "army crawl".) Once they had arrived, they would have to cut through the thick, barbed wire of the German trenches. After they had cut through, the mission was to get close enough to get information through eavesdropping. However, this work was very dangerous and many times a soldier would go out, hide for a while in a ditch and then return and give false information without ever have approaching enemy trenches. That became such a problem that those in command required the night patrols to cut some of the German wire and bring it back as proof that they approached. But again, soldiers found away around it. They would cut pieces from captured German wire and give that as their "proof".
Raiding parties were much bigger, about 30 soldiers participated. They also had to get out of the trenches and army crawl to German trenches. But instead of just gathering information, they were to attack. With them they brought rifles, knives and hand grenades. After the attack, they were to examine the dead bodies and look for documents and evidence of name or rank. A different way to go about a raid would be waiting until just before dawn and having a sniper creep out into no man's land. They were to be heavily camouflaged and to find cover before daylight. They would hide inside "O.P. trees" (observation posts) that were made by army engineers; these allowed the snipers to fire at unsuspecting enemy soldiers.
Raiding parties were much bigger, about 30 soldiers participated. They also had to get out of the trenches and army crawl to German trenches. But instead of just gathering information, they were to attack. With them they brought rifles, knives and hand grenades. After the attack, they were to examine the dead bodies and look for documents and evidence of name or rank. A different way to go about a raid would be waiting until just before dawn and having a sniper creep out into no man's land. They were to be heavily camouflaged and to find cover before daylight. They would hide inside "O.P. trees" (observation posts) that were made by army engineers; these allowed the snipers to fire at unsuspecting enemy soldiers.