Current Information:

Enlisted-Poplar

Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France

The Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers were formed in early 1915 and used in two main ways. The first was in the construction of deep dugouts to provide shelter and the digging of shallow tunnels or saps which could be used to get close to the enemy line, undetected, during an attack. However their main purpose was to dig mines deep beneath the enemy positions that could then be filled with explosives and used to destroy these positions from below. It was dangerous and claustrophobic work requiring specialised skills and not surprisingly, many miners as well as men who had worked on tunnelling projects such as the London underground, were recruited into the ranks of the Tunnelling Companies.

Oswald Hird died from wounds on 9th March, 1915, after having been sent to a base hospital on the coast, but as yet there is no information as to when and where he was wounded. The 170th Tunnelling Company was formed in February 1915 and spent the next four months countering enemy activity at Givenchy near La Bassée.