Cameos of Offensives and Battles

on the Somme and the Western Front

involving the 1st AIF

Volumes 1 & 2

Matt Walsh

Volume 1

Table of Content

Part 1

The Phantom Soldiers – The Australian Tunnelling Companies - Hill 60 Ypres

Part 2

The Battle for Ypres – 1st to 3rd Battle of Ypres

Part 3

Arras and the Hindenburg Line

Part 4

The Menin Gate – The Last Post Ceremony

Part 5

The Light Horse in France – 1916-1918

Part 6 The Battle of Polygon Wood

Part 7 The Battle for Fromelles

Volume 2

Table of Content

Part 8 The Battle for Pozieres

Part 9

The Battle for Villers- Bretonneux – ‘and how it was nearly lost’

Part 10

The Battle for Dernancourt

Part 11

The Battle for Le Hamel

Part 12

The Battle for Bullecourt

Part 13

The Battle for Mont St. Quentin and Peronne

Part 14

The Battle for Amiens

“The Phantom Soldiers” The Australian Tunnelling Companies

A brief record of Australia’s involvement in the Battle for Hill 60 (Ypres)

Matt Walsh

Table of content

Topic Page

The Underground War on the Western Front - Introduction - Strategy - Vimy Ridge - The Men (The Soldier Tunnellers)

Map of the Messines Ridge Mining Offensive H 61 u elling Company

1 1 1 1

- Tunnelling Companies es - Types of Min

ill 0 st A stralian Tunn

1 1 2 2 3 4

• Colour Patch W Mem stralian Tunnelling Company Hill 60

Tunnelling Company es

as Hill 60 worth the cost? orial to the 1st Au

Awards received by members of the AustralianCasualtiReferences

5 6 6 7 8 8

) Inc and the Military Police Association of Australia Inc. . Written and compiled by Matt Walsh JP MLO ALGA CAE) Dip Bus & Corp Law (CPS) © 2008 Matt Walsh.

The Underground War on the Western Front

This booklet is an initiative of the Defence Reserves Association (NSW as part of their Schools Military History Program

(M

Introduction It is a little known fact that a major part of the war on the Western Front was fought underground, which lead to the men Australian Tunnelling Companies being referred to as the ‘Phantom Soldiers’ because they spent most of their time underground and were rarely seen on the surface.

trategy S

Mining played an important part in the Allied strategy and also the Germans up till the

imy Ridge

Tunnelling andBattle at Messines in 1917 at which time the nature of the fighting changed and more moveable defences took the place of positional defences in which tunnelling was most effective. V

Vimy Ridge

An example of this concept occurred when the Canadians took Vimy Ridge in April 1917, when they had approximately 15,000 troops underground in large subways which had electric power, water, and even light rail this made them invisible to the Germ s or subject to artillery fire or other methods of fire until the last minute. The Men (The Soldier Tunnellers)

an

um contains the remains of hundreds of soldiers from both sides who died in is underground battlefield.

The troops who undertook this type of warfare were generally ‘hard rock miners’ from the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada and they played a very dangerous game of cat and mouse with their underground enemy the German soldier. Many a pitched battle was fought in the confines of the tunnels. Hill 60 in Belgith Tunnelling Companies By June of 1916 mining had just about reached it peak with 33 Tunnelling Companies being formed.

• Royal Engineers – 25 Tunnelling Companies • Royal Canadian Engineers – 3 Tunnelling Companies • Royal Australian Engineers- 3 Tunnelling Companies

Mining & Boring Company -1 Company –

In 1 7 BEF.

Typ o

• Australian Electrical & Mechanical, (The ABC Company)

• Royal New Zealand Engineers – 1 Tunnelling Company

91 a Portuguese Mining Company was established in the

- 1 - es f Mines

There were (3) three types of mines in use-:

These were further classified as:-

mmon Mine:- was designed to blow up the enemy. ed to bury the enemy by throwing a large amount of rock

isrupt enemy mining. This was achieved by the use of a collapse a tunnel without

1. Offensive

1.1 The Co1.2 The Fougasse Mine:- was design

and dirt over the enemy positions.

2. Defensive These were designed to destroy or d‘Camouflet Charge’ which was a subsurface mine designed to breaking the surface area.

3. Tactica

not designed to destroy the enemy, but rather to provide a high rim for firing

Bored Mines (also known as ‘Wombat Mines) named from the method of hand

- 2 - HILL60

l These werepositions or make it difficult for the enemy to approach the allied lines. A variation of these mines was the :- 3.1 The

drilling rigs used in their placement.

Hill 60, was located at Zwarteleen (Ypres Belgium) round five kilometres south-east of Ypres was to have strategic importance for both sides during the Battle for Ypres. It was not a natural feature but it was an artificially created feature some 60 metres high and 250 metres from end to end which had been made from spoil during the construction of the Co es-Ypres railway during the 19th century. On

ch loamy clay, underneath lay seven (7) metres of dry sand separated by a layer of blue clay

a

mmintop was riand two (2) metres of quicksand. It received its name from the Australian Troops as signifying its height in metres above sea level on the contour map.

Who ever held this summ ovements of enemy

oops in the area and when necessary bring to bear artillery and small arms fire. Whilst only 60 metres igh it was the key to the entire Messines Ridge and gave an unhindered view if Ypres.

s importance was realised by the Germans when they captured it from the French on 10th December 914. Soon after this the British began digging tunnels under the hill and the German positions on the

by the 1

of

ero hour was set for 1900 hours on the 17th 1915. Following the detonation of the charges the xplosion lasted for about 10 seconds ripping the heart out of the hill, with debris being flung nearly 00 metres into the air and scattering it more than 300 metres in all directions. This was followed by n artillery bombardment followed by an infantry attack by the Royal West Kent’s, 2nd Kings Own cottish Borders supported by a number of other Re ents (a monument stands proudly on the

ttacks were repelled by the British and it was during this attack that Lieutenant George Roland Patrick Roupell won the VC the point at which he won his award is now the highest point on the hill.

it gained a tactical advantage as they could observe the mtrh It1hill. This was one of the first tasks of the newly formed 171st Tunnelling Company from experienced miners from the Monmouthshire Regiment (members of this Regiment were drawn from an area near the Welsh Border, Welshmen being known for their mining ability). They were assisted st

thNorthumberland Field Company of the Royal Engineers. By Saturday 10 April 1915, digging at Hill 60 was about finished and six mines were ready for charging M1 and M2 ran singly and roughly straight out under no-mans land for more than 100 metres. Then just before reaching the German trench, each became two by forking right and left. The arms just a few metres long were enlarged to receive the charge (gunpowder). A charge of 2,700 pounds was placed in each of M1 chambers and two charges of one tonne each was placed in M2, whilst M3 only received 250 kilos due to the risk discovery by the Germans. Example of a Tunnel (Sap) used during WWI

- 3 - Z e1aS gimsummit of the hill to this day and the café/museum opposite also bears their names. Casualties on this occasion were light (7) seven British –one of these occurred when a soldier peered over the parapet was violently hit in the face by a piece of debris and killed him. The Germans lost 150 killed and 20 were taken prisoners. A counter attack on the night of the 17th by the Germans inflicted heavy casualties on the British forcing the British off the Hill. The next day the Hill was retaken by the British further a

South of Hill 60 there was two other mounds of earth one known as ‘the Dump’ and the other ‘the Caterpillar’. By the 9th April 1915 there were three galleries running beneath the German lines.

he British held Hill e Germans. Hill 60 was therefore highly prized by both sides and changed hands on a number of casions between 17th & 21st April. Not only was the feature Hill 60 used by both armies, they also rned to going underground and tunnelling beneath the feature.

point of interest in respect to this action is that the Germans had dug gas cylinders into the tunnels nder Hill 60.

a,

hand fighting would break out in

ll occupied by the Germans when in October 1916 the 1st Australian Tunnelling

onal

eet deep and ran (3) three galleries ‘Sydney –Brisbane-Perth’ Hill 60 and some 1400

the Australians dug some 8 kilometres of alleries (tunnels) advancing some 3 or 4 metres each day and night. These galleries were fitted with lectric lights and in the (7) seven taken to dig them the Germans failed to locate the Australian tunnels.

he question is often asked: Who were the Australian Tunnellers?

T 60 from 17th April 1915 to the 5th May 1915 when they lost the summit back to thoctu Au At all times irrespective of who actually held Hill 60 both the Germans and the Allies (Britain, CanadAustralia) continued to tunnel under each others galleries and trenches in the surrounding areas On a number of occasions when the tunnels were side by side or on top of each other the Germans would try to destroy the allied tunnels by detonating small charges to collapse the tunnels.

ccasionally, each side would dig into the others tunnels and hand to Othe confines of the small tunnels.

ill 60 was stiHCompany took over the tunnels from the Canadians they continued this role throughout 1917. Their role was to be one of maintenance, however an inspection had revealed that extensive additiwork was necessary

- 4- Colour Patch of 1st Australian Tunnelling Company The Australians dug a vertical shaft 460 fone was dug to undermine the German line (The Snout) feet away. The main shaft was named “Sydney’. In all

which was to the left of

ge T

They were the men who undertook the task of Military Mining – they provided specialised expertise and showed extreme courage. These men risked being poisoned by gas (Methane), blown to pieces or buried alive. By 1916 Australia had (3) three Companies of Tunnellers in action. Whilst the concept of Military Mining Companies has been credited to Lieutenant J. Thomson a mining engineer from Western Australia. The concept was refined and developed by Professor T.W. E

niversity who was to be commissioned as a Major and who continued to develop the concepts whilst dgeworth-David of Sydney

ere arrested for being drunk and placed in the local prison. They had nearly completed an

he

ustical

he explosion of 19 mines on Hill 60 at 3.10 am on the 7th June 1917 which involved (2) two ompanies of Australians has been described as the greatest exploit ever conceived in Military Mining, opened a series of craters one on Hill 60 was 60 feet deep and 260 feet wide and at the ‘Caterpillar’ a rater 90 foot deep and 334 feet wide was created these explosions killed 700 Germans of the 204th ivision

Userving in France. Like typical ‘Diggers’ the men of the Australian Tunnelling Companies (ATC) whilst on leave in

lexandria wAescape tunnel when they were released. This was their first ‘Tunnelling Campaign’ The Australians took with them equipment which the British considered inadequate and strange. TAustralians had the ‘last laugh’ when the British encountered water and we had the pumps and they didnot, and when lighting was needed the Australians had the necessary equipment. One guess, who

idn’t. d It was the Australians who convinced the British that Military Mining was a ‘Science’. They also introduced their secret weapon “The Wombat Drill” to assist in the boring of tunnels. They also ntroduced an ‘acoustical instrument’ which located enemy mining positions. i

The aco instrument used by the Australians to detect German Tunnelling

-5 - TCitcD . A crater on Hill 60 after the explosion on 7th June 1917

as Hill 60 worth the cost?W

he Sydney Morning Herald greeted the news of Hill 60 as:- “a proud Day for Australia no less than one of the greatest days in our history. It was for their typical qualities of endurance and fortitude that the miners praises were sung”.

– Tunnelling Companies of the Australian Engineers was created in

ctober 1915 as a Mining Battalion with a HQ and three Companies.

many of whom

ny Complete with WW2 bullet holes

he hill itself has been preserved so that today’ visitors can have access to one of the most infamous ites on the Salient.

- 6- ont of the site there is a memorial to the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company and it is the Plaque

n this that contains bullet holes. These date not from the First World War but the Second World War, when this area was again fought over, although much more briefly. The Plaque explains that this permanent memorial replaces one erected in 1919 by the comrades of those who fell here.

pres which included Hill 60 casualties were high: British 59,275 – German 34,933.

Hill 60

T

The Australian Mining CorpsO They were so proud of their work that in 1919 they erected a Memorial to their mateswere still buried beneath the Hill. The Memorial to the 1st Australian Tunnelling Compa

Ts

At the fro

During the Battle for Y

An Advanced Dressing Station

The ground around Hill 60 has not been rest an Pillbox can still be seen

ffensive. It was taken again by the Germans in April 1918 (during Operation Michael) and was nally retaken by the British on the 28th September 1918.

wards received by members of the Australian Tunnelling Company

ored and shell holes and a Germon the hill to day. Hill 60 was part of the Messines offensive and was recaptured by the Allies on the first day of this ofi A

Military Cross

Major R.B. Hendler MC

Captain Oliver H. Woodward MC

er

E

- 7-

Sapper D. Reeves MM

Lt. Colonel E.S Sanderson MC Captain H.H. Carroll MC Captain R.A. Clinton MC Captain W.J. McBride MC Distinguished Service Ord Major Coulter DSO Major J. D Henry DSO OB Major Richard Morse DSO

Military Medal Sapper R. Kerry MM

Casualties Captain Wilfred Percival Avery 1st Australian Tunnelling Company Killed in Action 25 April 1917

peringhe New Military Cemetery Belgium Buried Po

References awm.gov.au

orld War 1914-1918 A Pictured History Vol.1 & 2 London he Great War- Les Carlyon Pan Macmillan Sydney.

-8-

ww1battlefields.co.uk first worldwar.com. WT