Peaceful penetration

Peaceful penetration was an infantry tactic used toward the end of the First World War by Australian troops, a cross between trench raiding and patrolling.

The aim was similar to trench raiding (namely, to gather prisoners, conduct reconnaissance, and to dominate no man's land), with the additional purpose to occupy the enemy's outpost line (and so capture ground).

The chief of staff of the German 2nd Army issued the following report on 13 July 1918: During the last few days the Australians have succeeded in penetrating, or taking prisoner, single posts or piquets.

[10]As ground was continually being captured on an ongoing basis by the use of peaceful penetration, the front lines were constantly being advanced.

The last requirement for successful peaceful penetration is that the patrolling troops needed to have an aggressive "spirit", or élan, to display large amounts of initiative (as the patrols would often have fewer than a dozen members) and possess great daring (as it was not uncommon for single Australian soldiers to attack, successfully, outposts containing half a dozen German soldiers).

As noted in the 1st Battalion War Diary:[14][15] The patrols continued to operate during the morning and succeeded in capturing practically the whole outpost garrison of the enemy.

At 2 pm the commanding officer decided to exploit the success of the enterprise with the result that our line was advanced... an average depth of 200 yards.