Peaceful Penetration

Peaceful Penetration was an Australian tactic (though also used by the New Zealanders), which was a cross between trench raiding and patrolling. The aim was similar to trench raiding (namely, to gather prisoners, conduct reconnaissance, and to dominate no mans land), with the additional purpose to occupy the enemies outpost line (and so capture ground).

The term "Peaceful Penetration" came from pre-war British press describing the advancing penetration of German trade into British territories, and that the Germans had no need to fight, as they were gaining the British Empire through "Peaceful Penetration". [C. E. W. Bean, page 42note]

Description

Development

In mid 1918, with the ending of the German Spring Offensive, the Australian troops started to conduct offensive patrols into no mans land. As the front lines (post the German Spring Offensive) were lacking in fortifications and were non-continuous, it was discovered that the patrols could infiltrate the German outpost line and approach the outposts from behind. In this manner, the outposts could be taken quickly, and with minimal force. This tactic was first reported as being used on the 5th of April by the 5th Division (Australia)), however within a few months all five of the Australian Divisions (and the New Zealand Division [C. E. W. Bean, page 345 note] ) were using the tactic. (It should be pointed out, that a similar tactic was used in Messines (in 1917), however the tactic was referred to as "Prospecting".) [C. E. W. Bean, page 42] While earlier a trench-raid was made near Messines on 16 November, 1915 by Canadian. [C. E. W. Bean, Vol 3 page 244]

Extent

The tactic was first reported as being used on the 5th of April by the 58th Battalion (part of the 15th Brigade, 5th Division (Australia)), however within a few weeks it was reported that peaceful penetration was being conducted by units of all five Australian Divisions, with some units using the tactic more than others (for example, the 3rd Division (Australia) conducting the tactic on 3 out of every 5 days in April). In some units, it was treated as a competition, with companies of the 41st Battalion competing to see who could capture the most prisoners. [C. E. W. Bean, page 47] [Laffin, page 93]

Effect on German morale

The effect on German morale was quite pronounced, with the effect of Peaceful Penetration being noticed by both the Allies and Germans. The Chief of Staff of the German 2nd Army issued the following report on the 13th of July:
"During the last few days the Australians have succeeded in penetrating, or taking prisoner, single posts or piquets. They have gradually - sometimes even in daylight - succeeded in getting possession of a majority of the forward zone of a whole division. Troops must fight. They must not give way at every opportunity and seek to avoid fighting.... The best way to make the enemy more careful in his attempt to drive us bit by bit out of the outpost line and forward zone is to do active reconnaissance... If the enemy can succeed in scoring a success without any special support by artillery or assistance from special troops, we must be in a position to do the same." [Evans, page 135]

A captured German soldier is reported as saying:
"You bloody Australians, when you are in the line you keep us on pins and needles; we never know when you are coming over." [McLachlan, page 193]

General Herbert Plumer (Commander of the British 2nd Army) stated:
"At the same time I would like to tell you that there is no division, certainly in my army, perhaps in the whole British army, which has done more to destroy the morale of the enemy than the 1st Australian Division." [C. E. W. Bean, page 440]

Advancement of Lines

As ground was continually being captured on an ongoing basis by the use of Peaceful Penetration, the front lines were constantly being advanced.In fact, after the Battle of Hamel, a second battle was ordered by Field Marshall Haig (on the 11th of July) to attack the Villers-Bretonneux Plateau. However, barely had the planning started, when it was realised that the area (a frontage of 4500 yards, to a depth of 1000 yards) had already been captured by 2 brigades through Peaceful Penetration. [C. E. W. Bean, page 376] In addition, the 3rd Division (Australia) forced the German front line back a mile at Morlancourt. [L Carlyon, page 635]

Requirements

Terrain

As stated above, Peaceful Penetration relied on the patrols infiltrating the German outposts, and approaching them from behind. As a result, one of the main requirements for successful Peaceful Penetration is that the terrain provide good cover (i.e. the terrain have either covered approaches (such as ditches), or have enough ground cover (trees, grasses, etc)). As a result, it was only after the German Spring Offensive forced the Allies out of the previously fought over terrain into terrain that hadn't been damaged by artillery that Peaceful Penetration became viable. [R. Mallet, page 178]

Fortifications

As Peaceful Penetration worked best when the patrols approached the outposts from behind, a lack of continuous fortifications (i.e. trenches and wire emplacements) was also required for successful Peaceful Penetration. As a result, this tactic was limited to areas where there was a lack of well established defenses.

Troop Quality

The last requirement for successful Peaceful Penetration, is that the patrolling troops need to have an aggressive "spirit", 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 Allied soldiers to attack outposts containing half a dozen German soldiers).Similarly, the tactic works best when the German soldiers were more likely to surrender than fight when attacked. [L Carlyon, page 635]

Example of "Peaceful Penetration"

An example of Peaceful penetration, is a series of patrols carried out on the 11th of July, that were lead by Lieutenant C R Morley and Lieutenant G E Gaskell (each patrol totaling just 4 men).The patrol led by Lieutenant G E Gaskell captured 32 Germans and 3 Machine guns. The patrol led by Lieutenant Morley captured 36 Germans and 4 Machine Guns. As a result of leading these patrols, both Lieutenant Gaskell and Lieutenant Morley won Military Crosses, and others on the patrols won Distinguished Conduct Medals.As noted in the 1st Battalion Diary: [1st Battalion Unit Diary, July 1918, page 7] [Laffin, page 60]
"The patrols continued to operate during the morning and succeeded in capturing practically the while 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."
"Our total captives amounted to 2 Officers, 98 o/ranks and 8 machine guns."

References

;Published References
*C. E. W. Bean, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914 - 1918, Vol 6. ISBN-10: B0012TXT38 (A on-line copy is available courtesy of the Australian War Memorial at this link: http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/volume.asp?conflict=1 ).
*John Laffin, Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western Front 1916-1918. ISBN 0-7318-0855-X
*Martin Marix Evans, 1918 The Year of Victories. ISBN 1-84193-114-4
*Les Carlyon, The Great War. ISBN-13: 978-1-4050-3761-7 ISBN-10: 1-4050-3761-X
*Mat McLachlan, Walking with the ANZACS - A Guide to Australian Battlefields on the Western Front. ISBN 978-0-734409-07-2

;On-line References
* R. Mallet - "The Interplay between Technology, Tactics and Organisation in the First AIF", MA (Hons) Thesis, Australian Defense Force Academy - http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/~rmallett/Thesis/08chapter7.pdf
* 1st Battalion Unit Diary, July 1918 (hosted by the Australian War Memorial) - http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/AWM4/23/AWM4-23-18-33.pdf

See also

* http://cas.awm.gov.au/cas_images_pdf/0191/1914299.PDF - London Times article (date published: 30 August 1918) describing Australians in action, with a description of Peaceful Penetration
* http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-battles/ww1/france/peaceful_penetration.htm
* 5th Australian Division "Narrative of Operations during the month of May 1918" - with 7 raids/peaceful penetrations taking place - http://cas.awm.gov.au/cas_images_pdf/0191/1914597.PDF
* A captured German letter - http://cas.awm.gov.au/cas_images_pdf/0191/1915694.PDF - with an English translation: http://cas.awm.gov.au/cas_images_pdf/0191/1915692.PDF with the German soldier commenting on their Australian opponents, and their actions.