I think that Dutch also lacks a word that is exactly synonymous to raid, in a military context.


Goose Green was initially intended (by Thompson) to be a raid, and then became an attack to defeat and occupy.

'Overval' (and the German uberfall) could be used to describe both, and therein lays its shortcoming. It is too generalised. As mentioned up thread, it does not necessarily entail the egress (or even ingress) bit. So 'overval' would be a sufficient but not necessary condition for ‘raid’.

'Inval' (in-fall) specifically entails the ingress bit, yet is further removed from entailing the egress bit. Operation Barbarossa was an 'inval'.

'Strooptocht' (excuse me for using the correct spelling) and 'rooftocht' are not suitable for either of the Goose Green cases. They are more suitable descriptions for the kind of adventures mentioned up thread regarding North American Indian tribes (a 'stroper' is a poacher), and perhaps Viking-style raids. They imply some form of plundering. So again, a strooptocht can be a raid, but not all raids are strooptochten. I also wonder if 'raid' implies some notion of speed or immediacy, more so than a strooptocht.


Strike versus raid. That's an interesting one. I suppose it saddles us with the same ingress / egress issues. The German V1s and V2s on London would be strikes, whereas the bombers over Germany would be raids by virtue of their necessity to get themselves into the witch's cauldron.