By January 1915 it had become evident to 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. 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 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, 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 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. On 10 September 1915, the British government sent an appeal to
Canada,
South Africa,
Australia and
New Zealand to raise tunnelling companies in 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 the Royal Engineers being available by the summer of 1916. ==Unit history==