Major 80th Inf.,
Bn. Cmdr.
CHAPTER VIII
SPECIAL OPERATIONS
I. Raids
The object of a raid is to attack a special point in the hostile lines, destroy it, and return with prisoners or information. Such a point may be a salient, blockhouse, observation or listening post, etc. The purpose of the raid is both to prosecute the attrition of the enemy and to gather information. A raid is made with or without a previous artillery preparation. Usually, however, the barbed wire entanglements of the enemy are subjected to a short and intense artillery shelling. Whether or not an artillery bombardment is carried out, the tactics of the raid are the same. Success of a raid depends entirely on its preparation, which must be thorough and complete in every detail so that every man in the raid knows his part.
Preparation. The troops employed for a raid are a specially chosen unit, a platoon or half-company. Better still, a regiment may have a detachment specially trained in this work. When a raid has been decided upon against a particular point in the hostile line, the leader of the raid has the following duties to perform:
1. He goes to the command post of the center of resistance opposite to the point in the enemy’s line against which the raid is to be made. Here he gathers all necessary information concerning the enemy by studying maps and sketches, and comparing them with the ground. He also speaks with occupants of the first line for the purpose of getting information; and calls upon the commander of the center of resistance to send special listening parties, if necessary, to the enemy’s line, observing necessary precautions to prevent the enemy from becoming suspicious of a contemplated raid.
From the detailed information, maps and sketches that the leader of the raid has obtained from the headquarters of the center of resistance and from his own reconnaissance, he lays out a model of the hostile point to be attacked. This he does in the rear of his own sector. The model is partially dug in so that the raiding detachment will have an exact duplicate of the enemy’s lines to be raided to practice upon.
He now prepares the order for the execution of the raid, which contains the following points: