39-727: 1915 1916 1917 1918 Associated articles The Hohenzollern Redoubt ( Hohenzollernwerk ) was a strongpoint of the German 6th Army on the Western Front during the First World War , at Auchy-les-Mines near Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France . Named after the House of Hohenzollern , the redoubt was fought for by German and British forces. Engagements took place from
78-399: A strongpoint is a key point in a defensive fighting position which anchors the overall defense line . This may include redoubts , bunkers , pillboxes , trenches or fortresses , alone or in combination; the primary requirement is that it should not be easily overrun or avoided. A blocking position in good defensive terrain commanding the lines of communication , such as high ground,
117-446: A charge of 10,550 pounds (4,790 kg). 170th Tunnelling Company produced a forecast of the effect of the mines, in which mines A and B were predicted to make craters 100 feet (30 m) wide, 35 feet (11 m) deep and that Crater C to be 130 feet (40 m) wide and 35 feet (11 m) deep. The fourth, smaller mine had been planted under the side of Crater 2. At 5:45 p.m., the mines were sprung, which made crater lips from which
156-484: A concentrated attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt which lasted from 13 – 19 October 1915. The British 9th (Scottish) Division captured the redoubt and then lost it to a German counter-attack. The final British assault on 13 October failed and resulted in 3,643 casualties, mostly in the first few minutes. The official history of the war suggested that "The fighting on the 13th–14th October had not improved
195-530: A great width of front trench, opposition had been abandoned and the work carried on as quickly as possible. In early May, Falkenhayn had also ordered that a second defensive position be built 2,000–3,000 yd (1,800–2,700 m) behind the whole of the Western Front, to force an attacker to pause to move artillery forward into range. A number of pit-heads known as Fosses and auxiliary shafts called Puits had been built around Loos-en-Gohelle in
234-651: A number of regular infantry units, particularly the 8th Battalion of the South Wales Borderers , the 11th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment and the 8th Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment . 170th Tunnelling Company thus included a significant number of miners from South Wales , as did the 184th , 171st , 172nd , 253rd and 254th Tunnelling Company. Immediately after its formation, 170th Tunnelling Company
273-573: Is preferred. Examples from history include Thermopylae , where the ancient Greeks held back a much larger Persian army, and Monte Cassino , which anchored the Winter Line in Italy in World War II . This military -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 170th Tunnelling Company The 170th Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of
312-644: The 1st Northumberland Field Company of the Royal Engineers, which was a Territorial 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 , South Africa , Australia and New Zealand to raise tunnelling companies in
351-576: The BEF at the Western Front that the Germans were mining 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
390-573: The Battle of Loos (25 September – 14 October 1915) to the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916, including the action of the Hohenzollern Redoubt in 1915 and the British Attack at the Hohenzollern Redoubt from 2 to 18 March 1916. In the summer of 1915 the German armies continued the strengthening of front trenches, communication trenches and strong-points ordered by Chief of
429-685: The Dominions of the British Empire . On 17 September, New Zealand became the first Dominion to agree the formation of a tunnelling unit. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company arrived at Plymouth on 3 February 1916 and was deployed to the Western Front in northern France. A Canadian unit was formed from men on the battlefield, plus two other companies trained in Canada and then shipped to France. Three Australian tunnelling companies were formed by March 1916, resulting in 30 tunnelling companies of
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#1732771851000468-506: The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France was the site of intense and sustained fighting between German and Allied forces. After an earlier British attack in October 1915 , extensive tunnelling had been conducted by the Germans during the winter of 1915–1916; due to the nature of the clay covering and chalk below ground, mine explosions threw up high lips around mine craters, which became good observation points. It had been calculated that
507-466: The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France , when the area was developed by the mining industry; Fosse 8 de Béthune was close to the north end of a spoil-heap ( Crassier ) known as "The Dump". The Crassiers had been tunnelled or hollowed out by both sides, to provide observation-posts and machine-gun nests. The Dump was 20 ft (6.1 m) high, with an excellent view in all directions. New fortifications were built as quickly as possible, after
546-633: 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 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. By January 1915 it had become evident to
585-476: 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
624-593: The Franco-British offensives in May and June 1915. At Dump and Fosse trenches, on a slight rise 400 yd (370 m) in front of the original front line, a new defensive work wired for all-round defence was built and named the Hohenzollernwerk . The face of the redoubt was 300 yd (270 m) long and curved, with extensions to join with "Big Willie" Trench to the south and "Little Willie" Trench to
663-569: The General Staff General Erich von Falkenhayn , who on 25 January had also ordered the building of more defensive lines behind the front trench. Crown Prince Rupprecht the Sixth Army commander and some Western Front generals had objected to this policy, as an invitation to German troops to retreat rather than fight. After the experience of the Battle of Festubert , where Allied artillery had proved capable of destroying
702-427: The German gallery system from a British tunnel and were able to demolish the system on 12 March, which relieved the threat of another German mine attack. On 18 March, five German mines detonated short of the British lines at 6:15 p.m. , after which the Germans pushed back the British to the old front line. A counter-attack was organised, and the craters re-captured. The Germans retired and drove new galleries through
741-469: The German lines at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, which had changed hands several times since September 1915. In February 1916, mining was being conducted at the Quarries and near Fosse 8 , where explosions were frequent and were followed by infantry attacks to occupy the near lip and by sapping forward. In March 1916, the west side was held by the British and the east side was still occupied by the Germans, with
780-413: The German mining effort was six weeks more advanced than the British effort. 170th Tunnelling Company began work for a mining attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 14 December 1915. By the end of the month, it was in the process of sinking six shafts. Two sections of 180th Tunnelling Company were then attached to 170th Tunnelling Company, and the miners began another three shafts. Mining was carried out in
819-655: The German trenches could be seen. The explosion of the four mines (the largest yet sprung by the British) on 2 March was followed up by an attack of the British infantry. The new craters, A, B and C, older craters 1–5 and Triangle Crater were occupied and 170th Tunnelling Company destroyed German mine entrances found in the Triangle Crater. German counter-attacks retook Triangle Crater on 4 March and from 7–14 March skirmishing took place during heavy snowstorms and bitter cold. 170th Tunnelling Company eventually got into
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#1732771851000858-579: The Hohenzollern Redoubt: The missing are commemorated on the Loos Memorial . On 13 October 2006, a memorial was unveiled, to commemorate the officers and men of the 46th (North Midland) Division who became casualties, on the 91st anniversary of the final assault. The memorial was designed by Michael Credland in the form of an octagonal broken column of Portland stone , 46 in (1.2 m) high, with two tiers of steps forming
897-560: The Royal Engineers being available by the summer of 1916. 170th Tunnelling Company was formed in February 1915, and initially attached to the 11th Field Company of Royal Engineers. The nucleus of 170th Tunnelling Company consisted of civilian sewer-workers from Manchester who had been employed in John Norton-Griffiths ' business and were specialists in clay-kicking , as well as former miners who had been withdrawn from
936-681: The base. The broken column signifies the loss of the head of the family and the loss of an army column. The angle of cut at the top of the column is 46° and the pitch of the steps is the same angle. An inscription " Their Country Found Them Ready ", is carved on the top step of the Memorial and was chosen by Martin Middlebrook , from the song Keep the Home Fires Burning , composed by Ivor Novello in 1915. Books Theses Websites Strongpoint In military tactics ,
975-489: The clay layer on top of the chalk, which could be dug more quietly and contributed to the surprise of the German mine explosions. By the time that the crater fighting died down, both sides held the near sides of the craters. The British exploded another mine on 19 March and the Germans two mines in the Quarries on 24 March. British mines were blown on 26 and 27 March, 5, 13, 20, 21 and 22 April; German mines were exploded on 31 March, 2, 8, 11, 12 and 23 April. Each explosion
1014-466: The clay layer to distract the Germans from other mine workings in the chalk. The British tunneling effort over the winter gradually overtook the German mining operation and a plan was made to destroy the German galleries. By late February 1916, 170th Tunnelling Company had driven deep galleries through the chalk between 49–61 metres (161–200 ft) to within 9.1 metres (30 ft) of the German front-line trenches, where four mines were placed underneath
1053-410: The crater field, gain observation from crater lips over the German defences back to Fosse 8 and end the threat of German mine attacks. German counter-attacks drove the British back by 6 March. On 18 March, the Germans surprised the British with five mines. The 37th Brigade was eventually relieved by the 35th Brigade , and by the time that the crater fighting died down, both sides held the near sides of
1092-404: The craters. Following the British attacks of 2–18 March, the German units at the Hohenzollern Redoubt were considerably reinforced. The new German garrison of the redoubt remained doubled for several days and a high level of alert maintained until the end of the month, when the possibility of another British attack was considered to have ended. On 19 March 1916, the British exploded another mine at
1131-410: 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. To make the tunnels safer and quicker to deploy,
1170-581: 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 office of the Engineer-in-Chief. A second group of tunnelling companies were formed from Welsh miners from the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment , who were attached to
1209-451: The front near a new German trench known as the Chord . The Germans had an unobstructed view of the British positions from a slag heap named Fosse 8 and during previous fighting no man's land had become a crater field. On 2 March, four mines (the largest yet sprung by the British) were detonated, followed by a British advance towards the German lines. The 12th Division intended to capture
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1248-409: The general situation in any way and had brought nothing but useless slaughter of infantry". General Sir Douglas Haig thought it might be possible to launch another attack on 7 November 1915 but heavy rain and accurate German shelling during the second half of October finally persuaded him to abandon the attempt. Over the winter months, the British 170th Tunnelling Company dug several galleries under
1287-563: The mining specialist John Norton-Griffiths , the War Office 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 at Hooge , Hill 60 , Railway Wood , Sanctuary Wood , St Eloi and The Bluff which required
1326-517: The north. British planners judged the Hohenzollern Redoubt to be the strongest defensive-work on the whole of the front. In the area of Fosse 8 , more fortifications were built in July by the German 117th Division , after it had fought at Vimy Ridge in May and June; once a period of reorganisation at Roubaix was over, the division returned to the line on 9 July. Starting during the Battle of Loos (25 September – 15 October 1915), British units carried out
1365-433: The redoubt and the Germans sprung two mines in the Quarries on 24 March. British mines were blown on 26 and 27 March, 5, 13, 20, 21 and 22 April 1916; German mines were exploded on 31 March, on 2, 8, 11, 12 and 23 April 1916. Each explosion was followed by infantry attacks and consolidation of the mine lips, which were costly to both sides and turned more areas of no man's land into crater fields. The British 12th Division
1404-450: The shallower galleries dug by the Germans. An infantry attack was prepared by the 12th Division for 2 March. The four mines would counter the German advantage in observation from Fosse 8 and possibly lead to the destruction of the German gallery system. Chamber A was loaded with 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg) of ammonal , Chamber B with 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of blastine and 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) of ammonal and Chamber C with
1443-516: Was also deployed under the command of 2nd Division near Cuinchy at that time, as was the 173rd Tunnelling Company . In the opening of the Battle of Loos (25 September – 14 October 1915), the unit blew two mines at the Hohenzollern Redoubt . 170th Tunnelling Company remained in this very active area for a considerable time, until 251st Tunnelling Company took over in October 1915. The Hohenzollern Redoubt near Loos-en-Gohelle in
1482-492: Was eventually relieved on 26 April 1916 and missed the German gas attacks at Hulluch which began the next day, from an area close to the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Engagements continued until the summer, when the British and Commonwealth forces moved their focus south, in preparation of the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November 1916) . The following soldiers received the Victoria Cross in connection with operations at
1521-462: Was rushed to Givenchy for operations to counter enemy mining activity in that sector. The unit was relieved by 176th Tunnelling Company in June 1915. 170th Tunnelling Company was next deployed under the command of 2nd Division on operations near Cuinchy and against the German position known as Brick stacks near La Bassée Canal in the vicinity of Cuinchy in summer 1915. 176th Tunnelling Company
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