Anatomy of a Trench Raid
Waldvögelein (1 March 1918)
The following account describes a large scale trench raid carried out by the assault troops of the 265th Reserve Infantry Regiment on the eve of the great spring offensives of 1918. As the unit in question served in the same division as the 97th Infantry Regiment, it sheds a great deal of light on the operations led by Alwin Lyding – the protagonist of The Diary of a Stosstrupp Leader - in the same season and the same part of the Western Front.
On 1 March 1918, a trench raid with the code name Waldvögelein (‘little forest bird’) took place. Its aim was to sent three Stoßtrupps into the enemy position south and southeast of Hubert Hill. This is located in Square 1269/70, with its right wing 200 meters west of Blue Point QU and its left wing at Blue Point R.
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