The 185th 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. 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 * Sanctuary Wood Museum Hill 62 See al ...

, 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 Audomar, ...

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.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 49. 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 occupied ...

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 Au ...

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

Somme 1915/16

Battle of the Somme 1916 - Lochnagar mine, La Boisselle

185th Tunnelling Company was formed in Rouen in October 1915, moved immediately to the Somme area, for work at

La Boisselle Ovillers-la-Boisselle is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune of Ovillers-la-Boisselle is situated northeast of Amiens and extends to the north and south of the D 929 Albert–Bapaume r ...

. From its formation until the end of the war the company served under First Army. In the Somme sector of the Western Front, local but very fierce underground fighting had taken place in the winter of 1914 and spring of 1915 at

Fricourt Fricourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Fricourt is situated on the D147 and D64 junction, some northeast of Amiens. History Fricourt is about a kilometre from Mametz. It was close to ...

, Bois Français and

Carnoy Carnoy () is a former commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Carnoy-Mametz.Fowke moved the 174th and 183rd Tunnelling Companies there to relieve the French engineers, but the British did not have enough miners to take over the large number of French shafts and the French agreed to leave their engineers at work for several weeks. To provide the tunnellers needed, the British formed the 178th and 179th Tunnelling Companies in August 1915, followed by the 185th and 252nd Tunnelling Companies in October. The

181st Tunnelling Company The 181st 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 ...

was also present on the Somme. Early attempts at mining by the British on the Western Front had commenced in late 1914 in the soft clay and sandy soils of Flanders. Mining at La Boisselle was in chalk, much harder and requiring different techniques.http://www.lochnagarcrater.org, ''Military Mining''
online
), accessed 25 June 2015 The German advance had been halted at La Boisselle by French troops on 28 September 1914. There was bitter fighting for possession of the village cemetery, and for farm buildings on the south-western edge of the village, known as "

L'îlot de La Boisselle L'îlot de La Boisselle (french: ilôt meaning "small island") is a small, historic site in the commune of Ovillers-la-Boisselle in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France. was heavily fought over during the First World War, when ...

" to the French, as "Granathof" (

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 **Ger ...

: "shell farm") to the Germans and as "Glory Hole" to the British. In December 1914, French engineers had begun tunnelling beneath the ruins. With the war on the surface at stalemate, both sides continued to probe beneath the opponent's trenches and detonate ever-greater explosive charges. In August 1915, the French and Germans were working at a depth of ; the size of their charges had reached . The British extended and deepened the system, first to and ultimately . Above ground the infantry occupied trenches just apart.La Boisselle Study Group, ''History''
online
, accessed 25 June 2015 Around La Boisselle, the Germans had dug defensive transversal tunnels at a depth of about 80 feet (24 metres), parallel to the front line. As Allied preparations for the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

(1 July – 18 November 1916) were begun, the tunnelling companies were to make two major contributions by placing 19 large and small mines beneath the German positions along the front line and by preparing a series of shallow

Russian sap Sapping is a term used in siege operations to describe the digging of a covered trench (a "sap") to approach a besieged place without danger from the enemy's fire. (verb) The purpose of the sap is usually to advance a besieging army's positio ...

s from the British front line into

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 ...

, which would be opened at zero hour and allow the infantry to attack the German positions from a comparatively short distance. Four mines were planned at La Boisselle: Two charges (known as ''No 2 straight'' and ''No 5 right'') were planted at , intended to wreck German tunnels and create crater lips to block

enfilade Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapon fire can be directed along its longest axis. A unit or position is "in de ...

fire along no man's land. To assist the attack on the village, two further mines, known as '' Y Sap'' and ''

Lochnagar Lochnagar or is a mountain in the Mounth, in the Grampians of Scotland. It is about south of the River Dee near Balmoral. It is a popular hill with hillwalkers, and is a noted venue for summer and winter climbing. Names The English nam ...

'' after the trenches from which they were dug, were laid to the north-east and the south-east of La Boisselle on either side of the German salient �
see map
185th Tunnelling Company started work on the

Lochnagar mine The Lochnagar mine south of the village of La Boisselle in the Somme was an underground explosive charge, secretly planted by the British during the First World War, to be ready for 1 July 1916, the first day on the Somme. The mine was dug by ...

on 11 November 1915, and eventually handed the tunnels over to

179th Tunnelling Company The 179 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 ...

in March 1916, which finished and fired it. A month before the handover, eighteen men of the 185th Tunnelling Company (2 officers, 16 sappers) died to a German camouflet at La Boisselle on 4 February 1916.

Vimy 1916/17

185th Tunnelling Company next moved to the "Labyrinth" sector near

Vimy Vimy ( or ; ; Dutch: ''Wimi'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Located east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers ...

in March 1916. The German "Labyrinth"

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

was located near

Neuville-Saint-Vaast Neuville-Saint-Vaast is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It is located south of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Memorial was built on Hill 145, t ...

, between

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

and

and not far from

Notre Dame de Lorette Notre Dame de Lorette (), also known as Ablain St.-Nazaire French Military Cemetery, is the world's largest French military cemetery. 185th Tunnelling Company seems to have shared this sector with the 176th Tunnelling Company, which had moved to Neuville-Saint-Vaast in April 1916 and remained there for a considerable time, 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 ...

, which was relieved in this area by the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company in May 1916. The front sectors at Vimy and Arras, where extremely heavy fighting between the French and the Germans had taken place during 1915, had been taken over by the British in March 1916. Vimy, in particular, was an area of busy underground activity. British tunnellers progressively took over military mining in the area from the French between February and May 1916. Other units active around Vimy were 175th, 182nd, 184thThe Durand Group: Vimy Ridg
online
access date 2016-08-03 and 255th Tunnelling Companies. From spring 1916, the British had deployed five tunnelling companies along the Vimy Ridge, and during the first two months of their tenure in the area, 70 mines were fired, mostly by the Germans. Between October 1915 and April 1917 an estimated 150 French, British and German charges were fired in this sector of the Western Front. On 29 March 1916, the 185th Tunnelling Company was relieved at

Roclincourt Roclincourt () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography Roclincourt is north of the town of Arras, south of Lens, and approximately from Calais. List of successive mayors History World War I Roclincour ...

-Chantecler by the

. During summer and much of autumn 1916, the unit further developed and expanded its mining to create an effective underground defence at Roclincourt-Chantecler. In May 1916, a German infantry attack at Vimy, which forced the British back , was aimed at neutralising British mining activity by capturing the shaft entrances. From June 1916, however, the Germans withdrew many miners to work on the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 191 ...

and also for work in coal mines in Germany. In the second half of 1916 the British constructed strong defensive underground positions, and from August 1916, the Royal Engineers developed a mining scheme to support a large-scale infantry attack on the Vimy Ridge proposed for autumn 1916, although this was subsequently postponed. After September 1916, when the Royal Engineers had completed their network of defensive galleries along most of the front line, offensive mining largely ceased although activities continued until 1917. The British gallery network beneath Vimy Ridge eventually grew to a length of . The

Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...

was posted to the northern part of Vimy Ridge in October 1916 and preparations for an attack were revived in February 1917. 185th Tunnelling Company then dug subways near Neuville-Saint-Vaast in early 1917. Prior to the Battle of Vimy Ridge (9 – 12 April 1917), the British tunnelling companies secretly laid a series of explosive charges under German positions in an effort to destroy surface fortifications before the assault. Boire (1992) pp. 22–23 The original plan had called for 17 mines and 9 ''Wombat'' charges to support the infantry attack, of which 13 (possibly 14) mines and 8 ''Wombat'' charges were eventually laid. At the same time, 19 crater groups existed along this section of the Western Front, each with several large craters. Boire (1992) p. 20 In order to assess the consequences of infantry having to advance across cratered ground after a mining attack, officers from the Canadian Corps visited

and

where the

mines on the first day of the Somme Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

had been blown. Their reports and the experience of the Canadians at St Eloi in April 1916 – where mines had so altered and damaged the landscape as to render occupation of the mine craters by the infantry all but impossible –, led to the decision to remove offensive mining from the central sector allocated to the Canadian Corps at Vimy Ridge. Further British mines in the area were vetoed following the blowing by the Germans on 23 March 1917 of nine craters along

as it was probable that the Germans were aiming to restrict an Allied attack to predictable points. The three mines already laid by

were also dropped from the British plans. They were left in place after the assault and were only removed in the 1990s. Another mine, prepared by 176th Tunnelling Company against the German strongpoint known as the Pimple, was not completed in time for the attack. The gallery had been pushed silently through the clay, avoiding the sandy and chalky layers of the Vimy Ridge, but by 9 April 1917 was still short of its target. In the end, two mines were blown before the attack, while three mines and two ''Wombat'' charges were fired to support the attack, including those forming a northern flank.

Douai 1918

Units of 185th Tunnelling Company were the first British troops to enter

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

, on 17 October 1918, during the great advance to victory.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* ttp://simonjoneshistorian.com/men-of-179th-and-185th-tunnelling-companies/ 'Men of 179th and 185th Tunnelling Companies' Paper by Simon Jones.
Simon Jones, ''The Lochnagar Mine''
Military units and formations of the British Army in World War I Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers Tunnel warfare in World War I