Trench raiding
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Trench raiding was an often brutal feature of trench warfare that came into being in World War I, and was the practice of making small scale surprise attacks on enemy positions.
Trench raids were carried out at night by small teams of men who would navigate no-man's land and infiltrate enemy trench systems before returning to their own lines. Despite the fact that World War I was the first conflict to be fought by mechanized means, trench raiding reflected medieval warfare in that it was fought face-to-face and with crude weapons. Trench raiders were lightly equipped for quiet, speedy, unimpeded movement and armed themselves not only with modern weapons such as pistols, submachine guns and grenades, but also notably with bayonets, knives (including purpose-made trench knives), brass knuckles, and deadly homemade maces and clubs for swift and silent killing. The tactic had several purposes; to kill or take prisoner enemy troops, to gather intelligence by seizing important documents or enemy officers for interrogation, to keep the enemy 'on his toes' (reducing his morale), and to maintain aggressiveness in troops by sending them on such missions.
