If artillery preparation has been given, that must be depended on to have broken the wires and the thing to be done then is to reach the enemy parapets before they have time to recover and bring the machine guns into action. But by far the greater number of raids come as surprises to the enemy. They do not hear the men beyond their parapets lying on their stomachs and busily cutting the wires with their snips. The first they know of it is when a bomb lands in the trench or else the body of one of the attacking infantrymen, as he enters their stronghold to begin his work of destruction. In raiding parties, more than at any other time it is well to remember the adage that "silence is golden," and that the best results can only be obtained if every man is determined to follow his instructions to the very letter. If the party is cut off by superior forces it must make up its mind as to what it is going to do, though most men, I am sure, will prefer to fight to the death rather than surrender. CHAPTER XII EQUIPMENT FOR THE FIELD The question is often asked by prospective soldiers as to what is the irreducible minimum that a man should take to war, in the way of equipment. I say irreducible, for it is to the interest of the infantryman who has to carry practically all his belongings on his back, to reduce his load as much as possible consistent with efficiency and comfort. The tailors in London who undertook the tasks of equipping young officers for the trenches, having more interest in making sales than anything else, did their best to persuade their victims that the omission of one of dozens of things they proposed would expose them to very grave risks. No one could possibly have carried all the equipment they suggested and no Army Service Corps would ever have been able to handle it as baggage. Some of the men who fell victims to these outfitters went to France looking more like "Xmas trees" than anything else, for it was only when there was no more room on their bodies to hang anything that these excellent gentlemen were satisfied, and let them depart. In this list that I am now giving, I propose to deal with the equipment of the soldier first and then add to it the items that seem to me to be essential for the Officer.