3rd Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment

The General Staff decided that mining on a much larger scale was needed and accordingly the 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment whilst based at Steenwoorde, received orders to provide 1 Officer and party of other ranks. A more suitable task could not have been chosen as the majority of men in the battalion were peace time miners. Lt G.W. Lancaster who was a peace time Mining Engineer and the other ranks made their way by motor bus from Steenwoorde to Ypres on 27th February 1915. They were joined by a similar party from the 1st Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment under the command of Lt Burnyeat also a Mining Engineer.

The Monmouthshire’s were attached to the Northumbrian Field Company Royal Engineers under the command of Major Pollard D.S.O. They were billeted in the Convent School in the Rue de Lille in the shadow of the famous Cloth Hall. On the 1st March (St David’s Day) Lt Burnyeat attempted to take a party up to the front at St Eloi, to commence mining operations but due to heavy shelling by the enemy this proved impossible. On the 3rd March Lt Lancaster led a party to the front unfortunately whilst moving up the line Pte Pat Lewis was injured. The enemy shelling continued and Lt Lancaster had no choice but to lead the men back. During the move he was seriously wounded and had to be carried to the Field Ambulance. He was eventually returned to England. The men were given a few days rest after the idea of mining at St Eloi was abandoned.

A party of men who had been engaged on the construction of the London Tube Railways and sewers joined the Monmouthshire men. They formed the 171st Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers. This was the first Company of its kind in France. It was decided to start mining operations at Hill 60, so named because its summit was 60 metres above sea level. Owing to the flatness of the surrounding countryside the importance of this hill can be understated. Its occupation by the enemy gave them a fine view of the trenches at the foot of the hill. Work commenced on the 8th March under the command of Col Jerome.

It was estimated that saps driven from a point some few feet below our own front line with a rising gradient of about ¼ inch to the yard to allow free drainage, would be about 30 feet below the summit of the hill, a suitable dept for the charges. The French had already started a sap from Trench 38, an advance trench on the southern side of the hill; they had driven in about 20 yards before abandoning it. The sap was renamed M3 it was very small in size, about 3 feet to 2 feet giving the men very little room to work. (See map below) All the debris had to be placed in sandbags and removed by dragging it away by rope. Two more saps were driven from Trench 40 a little to the north of M3 and were named M1 and M2. Excavating work was carried out by two men at the face of each sap; this was done in complete silence so as not to alert the enemy to the work being carried out. All the debris was stored in sandbags in the trenches until night time when they were used by the infantry for trench repairs. Anything left over was dumped behind the lines so as not to alert the enemy.

The men worked 24 hours at a time, 2 hours at the sap and 4 hours out. During the 4 hours out the men worked to bring up timber and material needed and to dispose of the debris. Ventilation to the shafts was provided through the use of blacksmiths’ bellows which were attached to hose pipes. Lighting was provided by the use of candles but only until the mines were charged with explosives and then electric hand torches was used. These were not totally satisfactory as the batteries ran down too quickly. In the best conditions progress in the digging was from 12 to 14 feet per day, although on one occasion a sap manned entirely of Monmouthshire men actually drove a distance of 16 ½ feet. Over the whole task an average depth of 10 feet a day was achieved. During the early period of the war, trench maps were not so accurate and the only method of fixing trench positions was by using the Royal Flying Corps to take photographs. This is not as simple as it might appear owing to what was known as lens distortion. The proof that it was successful was in the destroying of the enemy trenches. The length of the saps M1 & M2 was about 110 yards which was then formed into branch saps.

The chambers were then used to make the powder chambers. The chambers were lined with waterproof sheets and the explosive powder was placed in the chamber in 100lb bags. The charges at Hill 60 were as follows: M1 2000lb gunpowder in each of the two chambers M2 2700lb gunpowder in each of the two chambers M3 500lb guncotton laid direct in the sap. The formula for the required amount of explosive was worked out by the Engineers. This was about 2.5 tons, about 100 percent extra was added to be sure. The success of the resulting explosion showed that the extra amount was not wasted. Once the mines were ready to blow four separate means of firing them were arranged to ensure that they were detonated without complications. The detonation was achieved at the first attempt using the electric exploders. As a backup duplicate electric firing cables were connected to each mine as well as instantaneous and ordinary safety fuses. Each of the saps was plugged with three barriers each of 10ft thickness and tightly packed sandbags at 10ft gaps. The mining of the hill did not always go without some degree of concern. On at least two occasions the enemy were heard digging in the proximity of the British saps but luckily they were not discovered. Everything was now ready and the hill was blown at 19.00 hours on 17th April 1915, the 3rd Monmouthshire’s were marching from Ypres to the line at Polygon Wood.

Crater on top of Hill 60 Picture courtesy Mr Steve Hoar

The resulting explosion was successful and the enemy trenches completely destroyed and the position quickly occupied by British troops. The official account read:- “The mines undoubtedly produced a great moral effect. Debris flew 200 to 300 feet in the air and up to 200 to 300 yards away, but all men had been warned and only one accident occurred to a man who, against orders, watched the effect over the parapet. The infantry were warning not to go down into the crater for at least half an hour after capture, owing to the danger of poisonous fumes remaining there. The two craters at M2 were each about 90 feet across and together formed an enormous pit, the inside of the hill being literally blown out, the depth of the craters being about 30 feet across. The success of the mines was un1questionable”

At the end of May the Monmouthshire men were transferred to the Royal Engineers prior to this they had only been attached for duty. They also took part in other mining operations including the blowing up of Wytschaete Ridge and when not engaged in offensive mining were employed in making deep dug-outs and similar work.

Men of 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment who took part in the Mining of Hill 60 in 1915

Pte Basham E.
Pte Bevan D.J.
Pte Boyles W.
Pte Collier J.
Pte Croudace C.
Pte Davies G.H.
L/Cpl Duggan W.
Pte Durham S.
L/Cpl Elson J.
Pte Elson L.J.
Pte Evans J.
Pte Gapper G.
Pte Hancock M.G.
Pte Hathaway F.
Cpl Hoare J.W.
Pte Hutchins J.
L/Cpl Jeffries W.
Pte Jenkins G.
Pte Jenkins J.
Pte Jenkins JR
Pte Jones E.J.
Pte Jones E.R.
Pte Jones T.
Pte Jones W.
Pte Jones W.J.
L/Cpl Leonard R.
Pte Lewis A.
Pte Lippiett T.
Pte McCarthy W.
Pte Owen J.
Pte Parfitt L.A.
Pte Powell F.A.
Pte Powell R.
Sgt Powles A.
Pte Pugh R.
Pte Rogers T.
Pte Selwood H.
Pte Shanahan J.
Pte White J.
Pte Williams J.J.
Pte Williams J. T.
Pte Winterson G.A.

Caterpiller Crater. Picture courtesy Mr Steve Hoar