British raiding party await the word to go, 1916 (c)

Photograph, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1916 (c).

Trench raids were a regular feature of life at the front. Small groups of men would cross no-man's-land and infiltrate the enemy lines. They were often undertaken to capture prisoners for interrogation, gather intelligence on defences and troop dispositions or to destroy enemy fortifications and weapons.

From an album of 76 official photographs.