Warfare

Creeping barrage

A curtain of shellfire that advances in short, timed lifts ahead of the attacking infantry, who follow as close behind it as they dare. Tried out in 1915–16, it was standard practice for infantry attacks by September 1916 and was perfected in 1917.

Mentioned in

• Chapter V The Year of Attrition Overview
• Chapter VI The Year of Revolutions §4 Arras, Vimy and the Chemin des Dames§5 Messines and Passchendaele
• Chapter VII The Last Gamble §3 Operation Michael: The Kaiser's Battle§5 The Americans Arrive, and the Second Marne§6 Amiens: The Black Day of the German Army§7 The Hundred Days: Breaking the Hindenburg Line
• Chapter IX In the Trenches §5 Going Over the Top
• Chapter X The Machinery of War §2 Artillery: The True Killer