'Leaving for a night raid at Messines into the darkness of "No Man's Land"', 1917 (c)

Stereoscopic photograph, World War One, Western Front, 1917 (c).

Trench raids were a regular feature of life on the Western 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 a collection of 101 stereoscopic photographs entitled 'The Great War'.