254th Tunnelling Company

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. Most tunnelling companies were formed under Norton-Griffiths' leadership during 1915, and one more was added in 1916. 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==

254th Tunnelling Company included a significant number of miners from South Wales, as did the 184th, 170th, 171st, 172nd and 253rd Tunnelling Company. 254th Tunnelling Company was formed in England and moved to Gallipoli in December 1915, where it merged with the existing VIII Corps Mining Company – but too late to have any serious impact on operations there. From Gallipoli, 254th Tunnelling Company was moved to France and relieved 176th Tunnelling Company in the northern Givenchy area in Spring 1916. VC in Mexborough Sapper William Hackett was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for losing his life in an attempt to help fellow miners when a tunnel collapsed at Shaftesbury Avenue Mine at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée on 26 June 1916. On 22 June, Hackett and four other miners of 254th Tunnelling Company were underground heading towards enemy lines when a German mine (Red Dragon) blew in of the tunnel, cutting them off. For two days they waited for rescuers to reach them. Hackett helped three men to safety but refused to leave until the last man, Thomas Collins, 22, of the 'Swansea Pals' (14th (Service) Battalion, Welsh Regiment (Swansea)), was saved. Hackett said simply: “I am a tunneller, I must look after the others first.” Fresh shelling caused the tunnel to collapse, entombing the two men alive. Sapper John French produced the only known eyewitness account. On 27 June he wrote: “Abandoned all hope of getting those two chaps out this morning & stopped all rescue work for the condition of the shaft was so bad to endanger the lives of the men working there...That chap Hackett died a hero for he would not leave his injured comrade.” In Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée, the Tunnellers Memorial commemorates the action on 26 June 1916 for which Hackett was awarded the Victoria Cross. The memorial stands at the site of the Shaftesbury Shaft and the Red Dragon Crater. Its dimensions, high and wide, mirror the standard interior proportions of mine galleries constructed by the tunnelling companies in the Flanders clays. The memorial was designed by Peter Barton and unveiled on 19 June 2010. ==Notable members==

• William Hackett VC (1873–1916) enlisted in the British Army on 25 October 1915, after having been rejected three times by the York and Lancaster Regiment for being too old and having been diagnosed with a heart condition. He spent two weeks of basic training at Chatham, joining 172nd Tunnelling Company. He was 43 years old and a Sapper in 254th Tunnelling Company when he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross on 22 June/23 June 1916 at Shaftesbury Avenue Mine, near Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée, France. ==See also==