Tunnelling and Mining

What was the role of tunnelling in the First World War?

Special tunnelling companies were formed to try and break the stalemate of trench warfare. They tunnelled under enemy trenches and laid huge amounts of explosives in order to blow holes in the front line, ahead of an attack.

What was tunnelling like in 1914?

Tunnelling began as a reaction to the dangers of advancing across no-mans-land and quickly became an important battlefield tactic.

• ❖ As soon as trench warfare began, all sides began digging, creating interlinked underground complexes of trenches and dugouts.
• ❖ The French were the very first to use tunnels and exploding mines against the Germans in October 1914.
• ❖ The Germans first used tunnels and mines to attack Indian troops in December 1914. The British then copied this and formed their own tunnelling companies.

How did tunnelling improve during the war?

Tunnelling developed to become an important tactic in trench warfare. There were a number of key developments:

• ❖ By 1916, the British had over 25,000 tunnellers, many of them recruited from miners who knew how to dig underground.
• ❖ Some tunnels and mines were huge and could take up to a year to dig before an offensive.
• ❖ At the Battle of Messines in 1917, the British prepared 20 mines with 600 tonnes of explosives. They dug over 8,000 metres of tunnel.
• ❖ The Messines mines were exploded in a period of 20 seconds, killing over 10,000 German defenders.
• ❖ The detonation of the mines was a huge success as they blew a hole in the German defences and allowed Messines Ridge to be captured without high casualties.

What impact did tunnelling have?

Tunnel warfare had the following 2 effects on trench warfare:

• ❖ Mines caused fear in defending troops who lived with the knowledge that the enemy was digging under them and planting huge mines that could kill them. It added to the psychological impact of the war.
• ❖ Mines could open up the front lines but could not help the attacker break through deep lines of trenches. It failed to end trench warfare and had to be used in combination with other, newer tactics to be effective.