"Trench raid basics" Topic
9 Posts
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rvandusen | 09 Dec 2021 3:36 p.m. PST |
As a follow up to my October 21 post, I now present a sort of minimum requirements for conducting a trench raid. Raids were conducted by all the belligerent forces in WW1 though the British Empire claim credit for initiating the first raids in Autumn 1914. Several nations went so far as to develop specialist raiding detachments such as Italian Arditi, Austrian Jagdkommando,and German Stosstruppen. In the case of the British Empire. raiding was typically the job of subalterns leading Ad Hoc assault formations that were created by whichever company happened to be posted on the front line at the moment. Dominion troops, such as ANZACS and Canadians were considered adept at such activities as raids and fighting patrols. I guess it was that frontier spirit. There were a number of reasons for raids. First, there was the need to gather intelligence on the opposition. This would often involve seizing enemy prisoners or documents. At the bare minimum it required gathering paybooks or insignia from dead enemy troops. A second reason was to keep up the fighting spirit of one's own forces. Weeks of inactivity had a way of sapping the morale of even the best soldiers. Such aggressive tactics would also make the enemy feel insecure. Controlling no man's land was important. A typical raid would involve a platoon or two of infantry. Say about 30-70 men lead by junior officers assisted by NCOs. The platoons would be organized into a number of sections/ teams/ squads that each had a defined mission to carry out during the raid. One section would be assigned to wire breaching and would be thus equipped with wire cutters, Bangalore torpedoes, or similar charges to blow gaps in the enemy wire. There would usually be two or three bomber sections which usually had a couple of men armed with sacks of grenades and revolvers supported by "understudies" armed with rifle and bayonet. It was the role of these sections to enter enemy trenches and "bomb up the traverses." This would involve the bombers throwing their grenades around the corners into the fire trenches and down the steps of any dugouts or into MG posts, etc. The bayonet men would then rush into the grenaded position to subdue or finish off any survivors. These sections would also be responsible for capturing documents and prisoners. A final section would be made up of the rifle grenades and any light automatic weapon that might be available. for anachronistic convenience we can refer to this section as the support group. Their task was to neutralize any enemy point of resistance that might be holding up the other sections and to deal with possible counterattacks. What specific weapons available would vary by nation and year. For the British and Imperial forces the Lewis gun and Hales rifle grenade began appearing in 1915. At first there was only a single Lewis gun per platoon, but this was increased to two by 1917 at the latest. The French Chauchat LMG was also introduced in 1915 and there were around three per platoon by 1917. These weapons were also used by Pershing's AEF when they arrived at the front in 1918. France also introduced the VB rifle grenade launcher in 1915. These were also used by the US. The Germans were late to the party as far as portable machine guns go. The lightened version of the Maxim 08, though designed in 1915, did not start to appear in any numbers until early 1917. It was also very heavy for a light machine gun. A lone Landser would find it difficult to move that beast by himself. In March 1918 Germany began to issue the revolutionary MP-18 machine pistol to elite Stosstruppen units. While I don't know for certain but based on later practice, I would allow no more than 1-3 of these guns per Zug for the sake of balance. In the case of the infamous Maxim 08 on sustained fire sledge mount these were typically deployed in 2-gun sections with overlapping fields of fire. It was also the lot of the lowly rifleman to "fetch and carry for the machine gunners," so it might be useful to first determine how many 08s the defenders will have, then allow 1d10+2 crew per gun. Any excess crew beyond the three needed to operate the weapon can carry the extra ammo belts, spare barrels, water cannisters, etc. Most MG posts would be typical weapons pits, saps, or improved shell holes reinforced with sandbags or other revetting, but by 1917 numbers of concrete pill boxes became available. For the characteristic artillery that the Great War is known for, before the invention of man-portable wireless sets, artillery fire missions would generally have to be arranged ahead of time. In most cases the enemy wire and trenches had been registered long before, so the important part was the timing and duration of artillery fire to keep the defenders' heads down and disrupt any counterattacks. The defenders in turn might have an SOS barrage laid just beyond their own wire that could be called in via a signal rocket. The above is based on several years of immersive research with a bibliography too long to include. I hope this is helpful. |
Wargamer Blue | 09 Dec 2021 3:43 p.m. PST |
I was reading a book on the battle of Fromelles earlier this year which had an interesting paragraph about trench raiding training. When Australian soldiers arrived on the western front in 1916 they were trained in raiding techniques by a unit of Canadian native Indians. That was all that was said but it was one of those wow moments. |
rvandusen | 09 Dec 2021 4:16 p.m. PST |
That is a cool piece of info. It seems that in many armies some troops are considered more intrepid/daring than others. In the case of the British Empire, one learns of the Canadians and ANZACS along with the Gurkhas, Highlanders, South Africans, and the Rifle Brigade. For France it was the various colonial outfits along with the foot chasseurs. For the USA it would be the USMC at this early date, but many African American units would fall under the designation of "elite" as far as gaming is concerned. Where Germany and Ausro-Hungarian forces appear the various jaeger and engineers' troops fit the bill. Italy had her Bersaglieri and Alpini at the start and later raised their own Arditi units. |
Jcfrog | 10 Dec 2021 7:28 a.m. PST |
Again showing the impact of mgs on combat, not just kills but suppression, badly simulated in most rules when just more firepower on a "stand". |
Irish Marine | 10 Dec 2021 7:37 a.m. PST |
The US Marines had the Lewis gun but the US Army wouldn't let them use it in the field, because some Army General didn't like the man who invented the weapon. |
rvandusen | 11 Dec 2021 3:02 a.m. PST |
The USMC and Army also employed shotguns as "trench brooms." I'm not sure what numbers were issued per company. |
rvandusen | 11 Dec 2021 12:13 p.m. PST |
I forgot to add that such attacks were normally conducted at night, so any night rules would be in effect. One thing that most rules fail to consider is sound. If not covered by a bombardment, Troops will often be detected from the sounds they might unintentionally make while approaching their objective. No man's land was noted for being strewn with all sorts of trash and soldiers might tread on empty tins, etc. thus warning any sentries of their approach. |
Blutarski | 20 Dec 2021 3:57 p.m. PST |
One weapon family not mentioned so far in the discussion is hand-to-hand melee weapons – knives, daggers, coshes, spiked clubs, sharpened entrenching tools, etc. B |
rvandusen | 03 Feb 2022 10:20 a.m. PST |
Good point, Blutarski! I forgot to add that many "frightful ' weapons could/would be carried for melee combat. Various knuckle dusters, trench knives, and clubs might be wielded in the close confines of enemy trenches. These would often be carried in one hand along with a handy pistol in the other. Bayonets, though nearly universally carried, were rarely required to defeat enemy forces. Once opposing forces were that close, the weaker side would more than likely run or surrender. I recall reading a British veteran's comment that he rarely saw a German with his bayonet fixed during his entire time at the front. He went on to state that German troops preferred to fight with sharpened entrenching tools and grenades when engaged in close combat. |
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