The 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army. The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Corps of Staff Cadets, Staff Cadets, Royal Australian Armoured C ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps (a narrow trench dug to approach enemy trenches), cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.

Background

By January 1915, it had become evident to the BEF at the Western Front that the Germans were

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

to a planned system. As the British had failed to develop suitable counter-tactics or underground listening devices before the war, field marshals French and Kitchener agreed to investigate the suitability of forming British mining units. Following consultations between the Engineer-in-Chief of the BEF, Brigadier George Fowke, and the mining specialist John Norton-Griffiths, the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

formally approved the tunnelling company scheme on 19 February 1915. Norton-Griffiths ensured that tunnelling companies numbers 170 to 177 were ready for deployment in mid-February 1915. In the spring of that year, there was constant underground fighting in the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I. Location Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked b ...

at Hooge, Hill 60, Railway Wood, Sanctuary Wood, St Eloi and The Bluff which required the deployment of new drafts of tunnellers for several months after the formation of the first eight companies. The lack of suitably experienced men led to some tunnelling companies starting work later than others. The number of units available to the BEF was also restricted by the need to provide effective counter-measures to the German mining activities. To make the tunnels safer and quicker to deploy, the British Army enlisted experienced coal miners, many outside their nominal recruitment policy. The first nine companies, numbers 170 to 178, were each commanded by a regular Royal Engineers officer. These companies each comprised 5 officers and 269 sappers; they were aided by additional infantrymen who were temporarily attached to the tunnellers as required, which almost doubled their numbers. The success of the first tunnelling companies formed under Norton-Griffiths' command led to mining being made a separate branch of the Engineer-in-Chief's office under Major-General S.R. Rice, and the appointment of an 'Inspector of Mines' at the GHQ

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Sa ...

office of the Engineer-in-Chief. A second group of tunnelling companies were formed from Welsh miners from the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the

Monmouthshire Regiment The Monmouthshire Regiment was a Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial infantry regiment of the British Army. Originating in units of Volunteer Force (Great Britain), rifle volunteers formed in Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in 1859, ...

, who were attached to the 1st Northumberland Field Company of the Royal Engineers, which was a

Territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

unit. The formation of twelve new tunnelling companies, between July and October 1915, helped to bring more men into action in other parts of the Western Front. Most British tunnelling companies were formed under Norton-Griffiths' leadership during 1915, and one more was added in 1916. On 10 September 1915, the British government sent an appeal to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

to raise tunnelling companies in the

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s of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. On 17 September, New Zealand became the first Dominion to agree the formation of a tunnelling unit. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company arrived at

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on 3 February 1916 and was deployed to the Western Front in northern France. The

formed four mining units – initially grouped into the

Australian Mining Corps The Australian Mining Corps was a specialist military mining unit of the Royal Australian Engineers during World War I. History On 10 September 1915, the British government sent a formal appeal to Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealan ...

– for the British Expeditionary Force, all of which were operational by March 1916. Three were specialist companies of tunnellers (

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

, 3rd), while the Australian Electrical Mechanical Boring and Mining Company was tasked with carrying out related repairs. A

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

tunnelling unit was formed from men on the battlefield, plus two other companies trained in Canada and then shipped to France, resulting in 30 tunnelling companies being available by the summer of 1916.

Unit history

Formation

In early 1915, while the

were deployed in Egypt, the

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

-sized "Australian Mining Corps" was assembled from men with a background in civilian mining. The intention was to employ this unit, which was at that time about 1,000 strong, with the

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

at Gallipoli, but instead it was moved to France in May 1916, where it also appeared as the "Australian Mining Battalion". Soon after arriving in western Europe in May 1916, the battalion was split into three tunnelling and one repairs company, and the corps headquarters dissolved.

Laventie

Shortly after its formation, the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company relieved the 255th Tunnelling Company in May 1916 in the Laventie-Fauquissart sector in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Loos

In early November 1916, the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company moved to northern France where it took over the Hill 70 – Copse – Double Crassier area of Loos, together with Hulluch to the north, and relieved the 173rd and 258th Tunnelling Companies, which had been waging war underground on three levels ("Main", "Deep", "Deep Deep") there. "In the south-eastern minefield the Germans blew a camouflet on November 27 1916 which caught twenty two of the Australians, the Australians had no chance whatsoever." Whilst engaged in mining on 27 November 1916 an incident occurred in the Black Watch Shaft on Hill 70 which resulted in the deaths of 20 enlisted men and the gassing of one officer and a further 8 enlisted men. Lt O.R. HOWIE was awarded a Military Cross for his actions during and after the incident. Fierce tunnelling battles recommenced with the Australians and Germans firing camouflets and continuing the underground battles until past Christmas Day 1916. By the end of their time there the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company in the Loos-Hulluch sector reported that the enemy mining threat had ceased completely and the front was relatively quiet. By 7 February 1918, the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company was engaged in trench shelter and tunnel construction in a quarry near Loos, between Loos Crassier and the Lens-Bethune road, and on 17 February 1918, a trench excavated by the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company was photographed near Loos.

Spring Offensive

In April 1918, the 3rd Australian and several other tunnelling companies ( 171st, 173rd, 183rd, 184th, 255th and 258th) were forced to move from their camps at Boeschepe, when the enemy broke through the Lys positions during the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

. These units were then put on duties that included digging and wiring trenches over a long distance from Reningelst to near

. The operation to construct these fortifications between Reningelst and Saint-Omer was carried out jointly by the British 171st, 173rd, 183rd, 184th, 255th, 258th, 3rd Canadian and 3rd Australian Tunnelling Companies. On 10 April, detachments of 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company and F Special (Gas) Company, RE, were thrown into the line to help 101st Brigade attempting to halt the German advance at Nieppe.Edmonds, ''1918'', Vol II, p. 201. During the great advance to victory in Autumn 1918, the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company constructed a road bridge at Moudit under shell fire.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1918'', Vol II, ''March–April: Continuation of the German Offensives'', London: Macmillan, 1937/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1995, ISBN 1-87042394-1/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84574-726-8.

External links

Australian War Memorial: Messines – Tunnellers and Mines

* ttp://simonjoneshistorian.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/born-fighters-who-were-the-tunnellers/ 'Born Fighters: Who were the Tunnellers?' Conference paper by Simon Jones. Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers Tunnel warfare in World War I Army engineer units and formations of Australia Army units and formations of Australia in World War I Military units and formations established in 1916 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919