In the Field Service Regulations, night operations are divided into three classes—night marches, night advances, and night attacks—which may be briefly defined as follows:—
A night march is a movement along roads, or well defined tracks, in normal march formations, undertaken for the purpose of transferring troops under cover of darkness to some desired point.
A night advance is stated in the Field Service Regulations to be a forward movement of which the object “is to gain ground from which further progress will be made in daylight, and not to deliver a decisive assault during darkness.” During the advance the troops will either be deployed or at any rate will move in formations which admit of rapid deployment.
Night attacks are delivered for the purpose of gaining possession of some point or locality which is held by the enemy or of surprising “an ill-trained, ill-disciplined, or semi-civilised enemy.” (Field Service Regulations.)
A night march may be a necessary prelude to either a night advance or a night attack, but in that case the march is considered to have ended on the arrival of the force at the position of assembly.
Importance of Careful Preparation.
Whatever may be the nature of the operation, the most careful preparation is essential. The success of all operations in the dark, up to the moment of collision with the enemy at any rate, depends on the care and thoroughness with which the preparatory arrangements have been made, and these arrangements are just as necessary in the case of a night march, carried out at some distance from the enemy, as in that of a night attack. It is impossible to lay too much stress on the importance of this preparation, no detail is too trifling to be considered, every eventuality, whether probable or improbable, should be thought out and provided for, and nothing must be left to chance.
The first and most important step in the preparation of any night operation consists in obtaining accurate information concerning the ground to be traversed and the position of the enemy. This necessitates as close a reconnaissance as is possible, and the reconnaissance should be made by night as well as by day. Ground presents such a different appearance at night that it is often difficult to identify a spot which has only been seen previously in daylight, moreover, small accidents of the surface which may not attract attention in daytime are sometimes sufficient to throw troops into disorder, if they come upon them unexpectedly in the dark.
The chief points on which information is required being set forth in the Field Service Regulations, it is unnecessary to recapitulate them here, but the following details should be attended to as well:—
(1) The spots selected both for the position of assembly and position of deployment must not only be places which can be easily identified at night, but must also afford sufficient space for the troops to form up.
(2) Both the position of obstacles, and the direction in which they lie, must be accurately reported, and it must be noted if their direction is constant throughout.
(3) In reporting on the enemy’s position every effort must be made to discover the extent to which patrols are used, and the distance beyond the line of the advanced posts to which they penetrate.