172nd Tunnelling Company
| 172nd Tunnelling Company | |
|---|---|
| Active | World War I |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Branch |
 British Army |
| Type | Royal Engineer tunnelling company |
| Role | military engineering, tunnel warfare |
| Nickname | "The Moles" |
| Engagements |
World War I The Bluff Vimy Ridge |
The 172nd Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. 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.[1]
Background
By January 1915 it had become evident to the BEF at the Western Front that the Germans were mining 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.[2] Following consultations between the Engineer-in-Chief of the BEF, Brigadier George Fowke, and the mining specialist John Norton-Griffiths, the War Office approved the Royal Engineers tunnelling company scheme on 19 February 1915.[2]
The first nine tunnelling 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.[2] To make the tunnels safer and quicker to deploy, the British Army enlisted experienced coal miners, many outside their nominal recruitment policy. 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 office of the Engineer-in-Chief.[2] A second group of tunnelling companies were formed from Welsh miners from the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment, who were attached to the 1st Northumberland Field Company of the Royal Engineers, which was a Territorial unit.[3]
Twelve tunnelling companies were ultimately formed under Norton-Griffiths' leadership in 1915, and one more in 1916. A Canadian unit of tunnellers was formed from men on the battlefield, plus two other companies trained in Canada and then shipped to France. Three Australian and one New Zealand tunnelling companies were formed by March 1916. This resulted in 30 tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers by the end of 1916.[1]
Unit history
Following its formation, 172nd Tunnelling Company was first employed in the area of St Eloi and The Bluff at Ypres.[1] When 175th Tunnelling Company extended its area of operations to Hill 60 in July 1915, the 172nd Tunnelling Company focused on The Bluff instead.[1] The Bluff, located halfway in between Voormezele and Hollebeke, is an artificial ridge in the landscape created by spoil from failed attempts to dig a canal.[4] With the additional height in an otherwise relatively flat landscape, The Bluff was an important military objective.[5] German forces took The Bluff in February 1916.[6]
In March 1916, 172nd Tunnelling Company relieved 181st Tunnelling Company in the Rue du Bois area, but soon moved back to The Bluff.[1]
In April 1916, 172nd Tunnelling Company moved to Neuville-Saint-Vaast near Vimy in northern France,[1] where it was deployed alongside 176th Tunnelling Company.
March 1918 saw 172nd Tunnelling Company working on a new defensive line on the Somme, near Bray-Saint-Christophe. It fought as emergency infantry near Villecholles, where it carried out a fighting retreat.[1]
In April 1918, troops of 172nd Tunnelling Company fought a large fire in Amiens.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 The Tunnelling Companies RE, access date 25 April 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Norton-Griffiths (1871–1930)". Royal Engineers Museum. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ↑ "Corps History – Part 14: The Corps and the First World War (1914–18)". Royal Engineers Museum. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ↑ Karel, Roose (2003-02-03). "Cycling Belgium's Waterways: Comines-Ieper". Gamber Net Home. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ↑ Baker, Chris. "Fighting at the Bluff". The Long, Long Trail. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ↑ "CWGC: Cemetery Details". Information on the burial places of Commonwealth soldiers, sailors and air crew. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
Further reading
- Alexander Barrie. War Underground – The Tunnellers of the Great War. ISBN 1-871085-00-4.
- The Work of the Royal Engineers in the European War 1914 -1919, – MILITARY MINING.
- Jones, Simon (2010). Underground Warfare 1914-1918. Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-84415-962-8.
- Arthur Stockwin (ed.), Thirty-odd Feet Below Belgium: An Affair of Letters in the Great War 1915-1916, Parapress (2005), ISBN 978-1-89859-480-2 (online).