WikiVisually
The entire wiki reimagined as a visual magazine with video discovery · Watch your interests come alive
WikiVisually
The entire wiki reimagined as a visual magazine with video discovery · Watch your interests come alive
Nature The World Movies USA Top Art Fine & Rare History Ivy & Inquiry
Enfilade and defilade
Videos
Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapon fire can be directed along its
Top to bottom: a German bunker on Juno Beach with wounded Canadian soldiers, 6 June 1944. The same bunker in September 2006. Finally, the view of the bunker's enfilading field of fire with respect to the seawall
Top to bottom: a German bunker on Juno Beach with wounded Canadian soldiers, 6 June 1944. The same bunker in September 2006. Finally, the view of the
The deadly result of enfilade fire during the Dieppe Raid of 1942: dead Canadian soldiers lie where they fell on "Blue Beach". Trapped between the bea
The deadly result of enfilade fire during the Dieppe Raid of 1942: dead Canadian soldiers lie where they fell on "Blue Beach". Trapped between the beach and fortified sea wall, they made easy targets for MG 34 machineguns in a German bunker. The bunker firing slit is visible in the distance, just above the German soldier's head.
Juno Beach on D-Day, 1944. The barbed wire fence is crude and not very high. However, when combined with the steep, curving sea wall it slows down any
Juno Beach on D-Day, 1944. The barbed wire fence is crude and not very high. However, when combined with the steep, curving sea wall it slows down any attacker, giving time for the machinegun bunker (visible on the far left) to enfilade any attackers. Note the soldier in the background, forced to use a ladder.
Counterscarp of a Napoleon era polygonal fort (Fort Napoleon, Ostend). The housing at the bottom of the ditch is a caponier from where the defenders c
Counterscarp of a Napoleon era polygonal fort (Fort Napoleon, Ostend). The housing at the bottom of the ditch is a caponier from where the defenders could fire on attackers that managed to climb down into the ditch, while being protected from cannon fire themselves.
Raking fire
Videos
In naval warfare during the Age of Sail, raking fire was cannon fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship from ahead or astern. Although each shot was directed against a smaller profile
Enfilade and defilade
…by English nobility of the time. Enfilade fire—gunfire directed against an enfiladed formation or position—is also commonly known as "flanking fire". Raking fire is the equivalent term in naval warfare. Strafing, firing on targets from a flying platform, is often done with enfilade fire. It is a very advantageous…
Painting of the British East Indiaman Bridgewater (right) raking the American privateer Hampden (left)
Painting of the British East Indiaman Bridgewater (right) raking the American privateer Hampden (left)