nettoyeur de tranchée

13:16 Sep 19, 2015 

http://httpdupuyblogspotcom.unblog.fr/2014/02/28/les-nettoye... Which states:

C’étaient des hommes de rang de diverses unités d’infanterie, qui avaient pour but le nettoyage des tranchées quand elles étaient prises. Le nettoyeur devait éliminer toute personne qui pourrait utiliser une arme. Très souvent confondus avec les corps-francs, les nettoyeurs n’étaient pas des hommes entraînés pour faire des assauts de tranchées ; ils suivaient les hommes et une fois dans la position ils allaient directement faire leur objectif. So they would follow trained solders into enemy trenches (they themselves not necessarily trained solders but most likely) and then they would disarm or kill any men carrying a weapon. It suggests that their specialisation was killing armed enemies in trenches. This would explain why « Un « nettoyeur de tranchée » surprend en silence le guetteur ennemi et lui plante son poignard dans le cœur »
It cannot see an English equivalent term as it would seem that this word entered the French language following a knife being found in the trenches and on it etched the words « nettoyeur de tranchée ». So trench cleaner does seem the most apt.

17:15 Sep 18, 2015 

Il est fascinant de voir comment les combattants s'adaptaient à une forme de guerre qu'ils n'avaient pas prévue au début des hostilités. La solution française était notamment efficace et bien organisée, il me semble.

16:53 Sep 18, 2015 

Exact ! ces nettoyeurs de tranchée ont été fabriqués chez les Ets Caux d'Hesdin dans le Pas-de-Calais, je peux vous obtenir quelques photos si vous le voulez.

16:40 Sep 18, 2015 

"Butcher’s knife
Before developing an official-issue fighting knife, the French Army purchased all sorts of knives from private firms, such as this butcher’s knife.

200,000 of them were ordered in September 1915. Many were used by teams of ‘trench cleaners’, who went in after an attack to make sure no German remained alive.

One trench cleaner, Louis Corti, wrote, ‘We were armed with a dagger, a revolver or rifle and a bag of grenades...the watchword was “No Mercy”."

The British and Germans used clubs:

"Trench clubs
The club was used on trench raids and patrols to kill silently.

The clubs above are German, those below and right British. They were made in army workshops or improvised by the soldiers who carried them."
http://www.iwm.org.uk/sites/default/files/public-document/Fi...

16:11 Sep 18, 2015 

"Crouching elbow to elbow with his comrades, Joseph waited for orders. His particular part in an attack is that of "'nettoyeur des tranchées," which means "trench-cleaner" in literal English; but he uses a long knife and an automatic pistol instead of a broom, and it is the German trenches and not the French that he cleans."