PREPARING A NIGHT RAID

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 281, 16 August 1918, Page 6

PREPARING A NIGHT RAID

.—4 A SKETCH FROM THE WEST FRONT. An orderly entered my dug-out and handed me this message: To Captain X.—Report to Battalion H.Q. immediately for details ref. raid to be carried nit by your company.— From Lieut.-Col. 8., Commanding Nth. Battn. Royal Blahkshiro Regiment. At last it had come—the raid, details of which wo had been waiting for weeke, was really going to fall to our lot. My company inarched out of the trenches that same higlit to an old chateau in the back area which was being used as a Corps Headquarters, and were billeted in the outhouses. The following day preparations began in real earnest—maps were carefully studied, and a replica ot tho trenches which wo were to raid wtis laid out on the ground by meanß of white tapes. The men were then derailed for tho various parties— tho reconnoitring patrol, the wire-cutting and covoring parties, the fighting' patrol, or main party, and an officer was placed in charge of each. Followed a week's strenuous rehearsing of tho raid. Bombing, bayonet-fighting, and crawling were practised. The men werp sent nightly into No Man's Land until they became thoroughly acquainted with the ground they were actually going over. Then just as everyono was beginning to feet bored ihe orders came: Your company will raid enemy trenches between points B.lOa. 3.2 and D.lio. 3.5, on tho night of 12tV 13th in6t. 'l'he object of the raid is to. secure some definite information as to the identification of tho enemy troops holding this sector. At midnight the patrol went "ovor tho top," closely followed by the wiro-cut-ting v porty. Their job was to crawl out to the Hun wire entanglements and cut any; places which had' been- missed by the artillery, and they were then to return to the juinping-olf place. ' At 1 o'clock they returned and reported that the artillery had done their work thoroughly, and their job for the night was over. The main party then "went over" and lay about fifty yards from our own wire in No Man's Land, and waited anxiously for zero hour, which 'had been fixed at 1.30 a.m. Toi the tick down came our barrage with' a deafeuing crash., Tho barrage lay on tho enemy front and roservo lines, while on cither flank of tho sector we wero going to raid there lay a solid curtain of shell lire at right angles to the trenches, thus forming a l»x round our objective. The only possible way the Boche could bring reserves up w;is out from his front-line trendies on either flank and over No Man's land, and our flank covering parties were posted ;ii positions to deal effectively with these it it was attempted. "Eiglit-O! Oil' you go, boys! and the main party arc awiiv behind tho barrage. Wo were more than half-way across tlio open before tho enemy's defensive barragu was encountered, but we arrived at tho front lino with very low casualties, tlere wo split up i„'ito six parties, two of which bore right and left and bombed their way down the front line to a given point, whore they pulled tho parapet and parados into the trench and fought bohind it. Another two of the party fought their way down the two communication trenches and blocked them in the same way, while the remaining two parties ransacked dug-outs and stripped the grounded Bodies ot their badges. It was short and weet—bombing, bayoneting, and killing lor ten hot minutes, then the signal for the return, and everybody converged at the point ot our entry into the enemy lines, driving before them at the point of the bayonet every Hun who could walk. T'ie raid party congregate outside Battalion Headquarters, and the spoils are handed over to a delighted Intelligence Oflicor. T.t is a curious medley, comprising papers of all descriptions hastily snatched from dug-outs-caps and badges, and, to crown it all, a sergeant,arrives with a complete Hun machine-gun. I his last, however, does not interest tile intelligence chap," and we leave him grubbing about aniMg the papers, from which he-will have gathered by the. morning apretty accurate short history of the reciuient holding the raided sector, and a lot of it ho will confirm by interrogating tho prisoners. —D.M., in tlio "Daily Mail.