The industrialisation of killing

[Weasel]

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/messines.htm

Big badaboom. :|

[RECON DOC]

In the face of active German counter-mining, 8,000 metres of tunnel were constructed under German lines. Occasionally the tunnellers would encounter German counterparts engaged in the same task: underground hand to hand fighting would ensure.

Now that's weird. Can you imagine that? Slaving away in muck filled, claustrophobic, rickety, ready to collapse at any second tunnels. Then you hear the shaft wall collapse and enemy come spilling in with spades and picks swinging in the dark. :|

[Weasel]

In my imagination WW1 is the most weird war of all. 10.000 casualties caused by one single explosion - unbelievable.

[little icebear]

Now that's weird. Can you imagine that? Slaving away in muck filled, claustrophobic, rickety, ready to collapse at any second tunnels. Then you hear the shaft wall collapse and enemy come spilling in with spades and picks swinging in the dark. :|

I read that similar things already happened when the Turks besieged Vienna. Crazy, indeed.
I once stumbeled upon an interesting website covering high altitude mountain warfare in the alps during WW1. If I can find it, I´ll post a link.

[capixaba]

Now that's weird. Can you imagine that? Slaving away in muck filled, claustrophobic, rickety, ready to collapse at any second tunnels. Then you hear the shaft wall collapse and enemy come spilling in with spades and picks swinging in the dark. :|

Here's a link to tunneling in WW1
http://www.1914-1918.net/tunnelcoyre.htm

I've been researching my home town's war memorial (ie the WW1 casualites on it) and being as it was at that time a mining village, I came across a couple of tunneler company casualties. Both these guys had signed on to infantry regiments and then later transfered into the Royal Engineers, and sapper/tunneling companies.
Apparently there were around 40.000 Scottish miners alone, and somewhere over 200,000 in the British and commonwealth forces, joined the army,so they had no shortage of manpower, and volunteers, as a lot prefered to get back working underground, as preferable to being in the trenches! They had a lot of skilled workers to call on, from mining engineers, shaft sinkers to underground roadway builders, as well as pick and shovel face workers. Apart from the counter mining, the conditions/safety were in many cases better than what they were used to working in back home!
When the Messines ridge mines were detonated they head the bang in London! Once both sides got into blowing mines, it became one of the biggest fears for the infantry, even more so than artillary bombardment, and probably accounts for many thousands of "missing".

[Weasel]

Very interesting information. Thank you!

Do you know that still 3 of the mines are laying in french soil near Messines? One of them nearly below a farm.

[Nod]

Interesting article thanks!

[capixaba]

Interesting article thanks!

Here's another site I came across... this is specifically about tunneling and mines.This lot do battlefield archeology, and go looking for the ones that didn't go off! If you fancy getting down into 90 year old tunnels filled with tons of 90 year old explosives as a weekend hobby then this is for you :)

http://www.durandgroup.org.uk/

[BugHunt]

Now that's weird. Can you imagine that? Slaving away in muck filled, claustrophobic, rickety, ready to collapse at any second tunnels. Then you hear the shaft wall collapse and enemy come spilling in with spades and picks swinging in the dark. :|


Apparently they could hear each other coming from a way away....the sounds of picks and shovels.

They would post senteries in the tunnels to listen, with boxes full of grenades, and perform counter mining actions.


From those days is where the term "mine" comes. Though now theres less tunneling involved....

[Noble713]

In my imagination WW1 is the most weird war of all. 10.000 casualties caused by one single explosion - unbelievable.


The impression I got from the article was that it was 19 seperate explosions. Look at the sizes of those mines: the charges were typically more than 12 tons of explosives!

[Laworkerbee]

I read that similar things already happened when the Turks besieged Vienna. Crazy, indeed.
I once stumbeled upon an interesting website covering high altitude mountain warfare in the alps during WW1. If I can find it, I´ll post a link.

same thing happened during the siege of Constantinople in 1453