 Soon after his unit reached the trenches in France, he planned a major raid near Fleurbaix, carefully preparing his men before launching it on the night of 1/2 July.This was a "silent" raid, being undertaken without a preparatory bombardment of the targeted German trenches.Wilder-Neligan split his 148 troops into three groups, and directed them to enter the German trenches about apart to avoid German enfilading fire.