The 177th Tunnelling Company was one of the
tunnelling companies of the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
created by the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. 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.
[The Tunnelling Companies RE]
, access date 25 April 2015
Background
By January 1915 it had become evident to the
BEF at the
Western Front that the Germans were
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
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
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Norton-Griffiths, 1st Baronet, (13 July 1871 – 27 September 1930) was an engineer, British Army officer during the Second Boer War and the First World War, and a Member of Parliament. A colourful figure in his day ...
, the War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
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.[Watson & Rinaldi, p. 49.] 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 an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War.
Ypres district
Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...
at Hooge, Hill 60, Railway Wood, Sanctuary Wood
Sanctuary Wood is an area east of Ypres, Belgium which was the site of fighting on the Ypres Salient in World War I.
Memorials
* Hill 62 Memorial
* Sanctuary Wood Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery {{Infobox military memorial
, name=Sanct ...
, 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.[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) p. 165.] 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 (; vls, Sint-Omaars) 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 Saint Audoma ...
office of the Engineer-in-Chief.[ A second group of tunnelling companies were formed from ]Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
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, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
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 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 ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
to raise tunnelling companies in the Dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
s of the British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. On 17 September, New Zealand became the first Dominion to agree the formation of a tunnelling unit. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company
The New Zealand Tunnelling Company (also ''New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company'') was a tunnel warfare unit of the Royal New Zealand Engineers during World War I which specialised in sapping and mining. The tunnelling companies were occupie ...
arrived at Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
on 3 February 1916 and was deployed to the Western Front in northern France.[Anthony Byledbal, "New Zealand Tunnelling Company: Chronology"]
online
), access date 5 July 2015 A Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...
unit was formed from men on the battlefield, plus two other companies trained in Canada and then shipped to France. Three Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
tunnelling companies were formed by March 1916, resulting in 30 tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers being available by the summer of 1916.
Unit history
177th Tunnelling Company was formed at Terdeghem in June 1915, and moved into the Ypres Salient
The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War.
Ypres district
Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...
into a wide area facing Wijtschate
Heuvelland () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Dranouter, Kemmel, De Klijte, Loker, Nieuwkerke, Westouter, Wijtschate and Wulvergem. Heuvelland is a thinly populated rur ...
. From its formation until after the end of the war the company served under Third Army.[
]
St Eloi
Mining activity by the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
at St Eloi had begun in early 1915. The Germans exploded mines under the area known as ''The Mound'' just south-east of St Eloi in March 1915 and in the ensuing fighting the British suffered some 500 casualties. A month later, on 14 April 1915, the Germans fired another mine producing a crater over in diameter. Much of the British tunnelling in this sector was done by the 177th and the 172nd Tunnelling Company
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 ...
. Mining and counter-mining at St Eloi continued at a pace until the Battle of Messines.
Menin Gate Dugouts
In autumn 1915, the 177th Tunnelling Company moved into Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
itself, where it built tunnelled dugouts in the city rampart
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
Rampart may also refer to:
* "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
s near the Menin Gate
The Menin Gate ( nl, Menenpoort), officially the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves a ...
from September to November 1915. These were the first British tunnelled dugouts in the Ypres Salient.[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) pp. 216–218.]
Hooge 1915 – 1917
Soon after the ''Menin Gate Dugouts'' had got underway, the 177th Tunnelling Company left the city and moved to the front line at Hooge to build new dugouts beneath the Menin Road Menin may refer to:
*Menin, the French name for the Belgian town of Menen
*Menin, a little village in the municipality of Cesiomaggiore, Italy
*Menin or MEN1, a tumor suppressor associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
*Měnín, villag ...
. Between November 1915 and August 1917, the unit was stationed in the Railway Wood-Hooge-Armagh Wood area of the Ypres Salient, where it was engaged in mining activities against the Germans on the Bellewaerde Ridge near Zillebeke
Zillebeke (also known as Zellebeck) is a village in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. It is a former municipality which is now part of Ypres.
History
On 3 March 1914 the then municipality was granted the arms of the last Lords o ...
.
The area at Hooge where the old Ypres-Roeselare
Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke.
Th ...
railway crossed the Ypres-Menen
Menen (; french: Menin ; vls, Mêenn or ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Menen proper and the towns of Lauwe and Rekkem. The city is situated on the French/Be ...
road belonged to one of the easternmost sectors of the salient and was the site of intense and sustained fighting between German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
forces for much of the war. In the Hooge sector, the opposing front lines were almost within whispering distance of each other. With its ruined village and a maze of battered and confusing trench lines, the area was regarded as ''the'' hotspot for the infantry, where snipers abounded and trench raids were frequent. Both sides saw Hooge as a particularly important area and a key target for heavy artillery bombardment.[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) pp. 148–154.] British and German army engineers attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...
by tunneling under no man's land
No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
and laying large quantities of explosives beneath the enemy's trenches.
Major S. H. Cowan, commanding officer
The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
of 175th Tunnelling Company, described the situation at Hooge in June 1915: "''There is some urgent iningwork to be done at once in a village on a main road east of Ypres. We hold one half and the job is to get the G rmansout of the other, failing that they may get us out and so obtain another hill top from which to overlook the land. It is a significant fact that all their recent attacks round Ypres have been directed on hill tops and have rested content on the same, without trying really hard to advance down the slopes towards us.''" Cowan's unit fired a large mine on 19 July 1915, enabling the British infantry to take Hooge, but on 30 July, the Germans took back all and more of the ground they had lost.
When 177th Tunnelling Company arrived in November 1915, underground warfare at Hooge was far from over. Aerial photographs clearly show the proliferation of mine warfare in the Railway Wood sector during the unit's presence there, with craters lying almost exclusively in no man's land between the British and German trenches.[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) p. 123.] With both sides trying to undermine their enemy, much of 177th Tunnelling Company's activity at Railway Wood consisted of creating and maintaining a shallow fighting system with camouflet
A camouflet, in military science, is an artificial cavern created by an explosion. If the explosion reaches the surface then it is called a subsidence crater, crater.
The term was originally defined as a countermine dug by defenders to prevent the ...
s, a deeper defensive system as well as offensive galleries from an underground shaft.[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) p. 119.] On the morning of 28 April 1916, a German camouflet killed three men of 177th Tunnelling Company, including Lieutenant C. G. Boothby (see below). In June 1916 the Germans blew three charges close to 175th Tunnelling Company's crater of July 1915, planned as part of a surprise offensive which captured the ruins of Hooge village as well as the neighbouring Observatory Ridge and Sanctuary Wood - the only high ground on British hands in the whole of the Ypres Salient. Canadian units later regained Observatory Ridge and Sanctuary Wood, but not Hooge.
While tunnelling at Hooge during the defence of Ypres, the 177th Tunnelling Company also built a forward accommodation scheme in the ''Cambridge Road'' sector along the rear edge of Railway Wood, halfway in between Wieltje
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
and Hooge. The Cambridge Road dugout system was located within of the front line. It was connected to the mining scheme beneath Railway Wood and eventually became one of the most complex underground shelter systems in the Ypres Salient. Its mined galleries were named after London streets for easy orientation. Further projects involved 177th Tunnelling Company constructing new dugouts beneath the Menin Road Menin may refer to:
*Menin, the French name for the Belgian town of Menen
*Menin, a little village in the municipality of Cesiomaggiore, Italy
*Menin or MEN1, a tumor suppressor associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
*Měnín, villag ...
in the centre of Hooge, located in between 175th TC's July 1915 mine crater and the stables of the destroyed Château de Hooge.[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) p. 150 (see the trench map there).] Parts of these dugouts now lie beneath the Hooge Crater CWGC Cemetery opposite the "Hooge Crater Museum". 177th Tunnelling Company also built the ''Birr Cross Roads'' dugout and dressing station
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...
beneath the Menin Road further west of Hooge,[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) p. 262.] and the ''Canal Dugouts'' along the Ieperlee
The Ieperlee (or ''Ypres-Ijzer Canal'') is a canalized river that rises in Heuvelland in the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows via the city of Ypres (Ieper) into the Yser at Fort Knokke.
The river is long. Its name is derived from '' ...
.[Peter Barton/Peter Doyle/Johan Vandewalle, Beneath Flanders Fields - The Tunnellers' War 1914-1918, Staplehurst (Spellmount) (978-1862272378) p. 228.]
Somme
March 1918 saw the Company working alongside 173rd Tunnelling Company on construction of the Fifth Army's ''Green Line'' near Templeux on the Somme, when the German spring offensive (21 March – 18 July 1918) began. After this the company was engaged in Somme bridge demolition, and other defensive activities.
Commemoration
Memorial at Railway Wood
A memorial dedicated to 177th Tunnelling Company and its activities is RE Grave, Railway Wood
RE Grave, Railway Wood is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial and war grave located in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. It is located on the Bellewaerde Ridge near Zillebeke, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres, and a little ...
, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
(CWGC). It is located in the former Ypres Salient
The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War.
Ypres district
Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...
, on the Bellewaerde Ridge near Zillebeke
Zillebeke (also known as Zellebeck) is a village in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. It is a former municipality which is now part of Ypres.
History
On 3 March 1914 the then municipality was granted the arms of the last Lords o ...
, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres. The memorial marks the site where twelve soldiers (eight Royal Engineers of the 177th Tunnelling Company and four attached infantrymen) were killed between November 1915 and August 1917 whilst tunnelling under the hill near Hooge during the defence of Ypres. The men were trapped underground and their bodies not recovered, and after the war, the memorial was erected on the hill.[www.wo1.be](_blank)
accessed 19 June 2006
Lieutenant Boothby's letters
The officer mentioned on the Cross of Sacrifice at RE Grave, Railway Wood
RE Grave, Railway Wood is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial and war grave located in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. It is located on the Bellewaerde Ridge near Zillebeke, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres, and a little ...
was Second Lieutenant Charles Geoffrey Boothby (13 December 1894 – 28 April 1916), service number 147252, from near Birmingham. He first attended Clayesmore School
Clayesmore School is an independent school for boys and girls, aged 2 – 18 years, in the village of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England. It is both a day and boarding school and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (H ...
, then Christ College, Brecon, between 1909 and 1913. In the autumn of 1913, he entered Birmingham University
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, and spent a year studying dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...
. He was just short of his 20th birthday when he applied for a commission in December 1914. A year later he was seconded from 8th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment
The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot an ...
to the Royal Engineers. Also in 1915, when he was twenty-one, Boothby had just met eighteen-year-old Edith Ainscow. They exchanged love letter
A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings.
History
One of the oldest references to a l ...
s over a period of 18 months until Boothby was reported missing in action
Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...
in spring 1916, having been blown up by a German mine at Railway Wood on the Bellewaerde Ridge near Ypres. The letter exchange between Boothby and Ainscow survived the war and was eventually published by Edith's son, University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
professor Arthur Stockwin, in 2005.[Arthur Stockwin (ed.), ''Thirty-odd Feet Below Belgium: An Affair of Letters in the Great War 1915-1916'', Parapress (2005), ]
online
See also
* Mine warfare
References
An overview of the history of 177th Tunnelling Company is also available in Robert K. Johns, ''Battle Beneath the Trenches: The Cornish Miners of 251 Tunnelling Company RE'', Pen & Sword Military 2015 (), p. 21
see online
Bibliography
* Iain McHenry, ''Subterranean Sappers: A History of 177 Tunnelling Company RE from 1915 to 1919'', Uniform Press 2015 ()
*
Further reading
*
*
*
* Arthur Stockwin (ed.), ''Thirty-odd Feet Below Belgium: An Affair of Letters in the Great War 1915-1916'', Parapress (2005),
online
.
* Graham E. Watson & Richard A. Rinaldi, ''The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889–2018'', Tiger Lily Books, 2018, {{ISBN, 978-171790180-4.
External links
* ttp://www.worcestershireregiment.com/images/medals/Ignorance_Trench.jpg Trench map of Hooge, where 177th Tunnelling Company fought for two years
Battle map of Hooge with mine craters indicated, many of which were blown by 177th Tunnelling Company
Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers
Tunnel warfare in World War I