Thursday 27th April 1916: Captain Bridcutt, adjutant of the
7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, tells us that last night they engaged in
raid of enemy trenches. Such raids are commonplace and are aimed at destroying
sections of enemy trenches, killing enemy soldiers and capturing prisoners for
information as well as information gleaned by the raiders themselves. They are
also designed to lower the morale of the enemy and to retain command of no
man’s land between the two lines of trenches.
We understand
that a communiqué has been sent by 54th Infantry Brigade to The Times for publication in a few days’
time. It says: "Last night the Bedfordshire Regiment carried out a very
successful raid near Carnoy. The raiding party rushed the trenches and after
fierce hand to hand fighting drove the remaining Germans into their dugouts and
bombed them there. Our casualties - eight wounded, all brought in. German loss
considerable."
The General
officer Commanding 54th Infantry Brigade is of opinion that in publishing the
name of the Regiment in the newspaper, which up to now has scarcely ever been
done, a high honour has been conferred on the Battalion. The British Communiqué
has also been published in all French papers.
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