Westcountry Miners, Masons, Quarrymen; Tunnellers

[Petroc]

Dear All,

 

Many moons ago I did some research into the above and kind of concluded (perhaps wrongly) that Barton's (superb Historian of tin mining in Cornwall, by the way) mention of a 'Cornish Tunnelling' unit was incorrect and that he might have been referring to the 10th DCLI (Cornwall Pioneers) who did actively recruit in 1915 from the mining/quarrying/clay districts from both Cornwall and West Devon/Dartmoor (and also sought out masons, builders, etc in these same districts). Robert Johns has subsequently published a book on 251 Company RE with the sub-title 'The Cornish Miners of 251 Tunnelling Company', the title of which initially surprised me...I'm afraid I don't have accesss to this book, but could anyone provide a brief breakdown of the composition of 251 for me? Was this truly a 'Cornish' unit, for example? Many thanks in anticipation!

Andy 

[Kath]

 

Kath.

[Petroc]

Thank you for the link

[Petroc]

Though not precisely First World War (but with references to it) anyone interested in this topic might want to check out 'Called Home; The Dartmoor Tin Miner, 1860-1940' by Tom Greeves. Dr Greeves, archaeologist and historian, is an absolute hero in terms of his commitment to the Moor and moorland communities, and I make no apologies for plugging this gem of a book (itself an expanded version of an earlier publication)