No man's land

No man's land was the most dangerous place on the front. At night patrols, wiring parties and raiders went out into it, and the wounded from failed attacks often lay there for hours because no one could reach them. Crossing it under machine-gun fire was the bloodiest part of any attack, which is why infantry went forward behind a barrage, at night, in fog or under a smoke screen.

The phrase itself is old, but it came into general use during the First World War, especially after the Christmas truce of 1914, when soldiers of both sides met in no man's land, exchanged gifts and buried their dead. From then on it appeared regularly in communiqués and newspapers.