“Silent Death”: The Canadian Style of Trench Raiding

In a recent book I found at the California University Digital Library entitled Sniping in France – With Notes on the Scientific Training of Scouts, Observers, and Snipers by Major H. Hesketh-Prichard D.S.O., M.C. there was an interesting reference:

“For instance, there was the”Silent Death,” as it was called, invented by the Canadians, who, under cover of darkness, crawled out into No Man’s Land every night, and lay there awaiting the advent of a German patrol. If such came, it was attacked hand to hand with trench daggers, and its members killed as silently as possible. This soon made the Germans very shy of taking their evening crawl, when so many of them who had gone over the top vanished into the darkness and were never heard of again.

At length the Germans almost gave up patrolling in that sector, and one one my officers who used to be in charge of a “Silent Death “party has often told me how dull and chilly were those long and weary waits in the frost or the rain, waiting for Huns who never came.”

It appears that this type of trench raiding in order to establish dominance of “No Man’s Land” was peculiar to the Canadian Forces and there are 2 sources found that subsequently attribute this type of raid and its tactical and psychological effect to the Canadian Expeditionary Forces.

A list of Battlefield Colloquialisms at Griffith University defines “Silent Death” as:

“The practice of waiting quietly at night in no man’s land for the advent of a German patrol. The patrol was then dispatched hand-to-hand as quickly and silently as possible by the use of trench knives. Much favoured by the Canadians.”

Yet another source attributes this tactic specifically to the Canadian Forces. Dr. Gavin Hughes article on Trench Raiding specifically states: “The Canadians, for example, developed a counter raiding tactic known as the ‘Silent Death’, which became as much of a psychological weapon as anything else.”

This raid primary purpose was to interdict German patrols whose purpose was to gather intelligence on the composure, topography, and configuration of the Canadian trenches and the associated infrastructure such as barbed wire entanglements, listening posts, and other tactical aspects of the Canadian trenches.

It was not the only type of raid available tactically buts it design was to instill fear in the enemy and suppress their initiative in gathering intelligence.

It will be interesting to note during the transcription of the War Diaries if any indication of the types of raids the 18th Battalion participated in and as this research progresses.