The Attack in Trench Warfare / Impressions and Reflections of a Company Commander

It is probable that no book on any military topic published since the outbreak of the present war has excited an interest and comment in European military circles equal to that produced by the publication of Captain Laffargue’s Etude sur l’attaque dans la période actuelle de la guerre. It is, in fact, the first publication from the pen of a military man dealing with the general and detailed aspects of the tactics of the attack in trench warfare that has come to our attention.

The methods of training of infantry units for this class of warfare and the degree of careful preparation necessary for the attainment of any measure of success are among the most important features of Captain Laffargue’s study. The comparison which he makes between the conduct in battle of two regiments of very different quality, brings out very clearly the difference between real infantry and the cannon-fodder variety which is too often considered adequate for war purposes.

The fact that this study was so highly thought of by General Joffre that he caused it to be published to the French Army before it was given out for general publication, speaks for its excellence more eloquently than any commendation which could otherwise be bestowed upon it.