Tunnelling Companies

[John_Hartley]

Apologies in advance, but I'm going to be vague ("Again", I hear you say).

I'm looking for details of an incident on 21/8/16 in a sap tunnel near Neuville St Vaast. I don't know which Tunelling Coy was involved but 4 Engineers were overcome by fumes.

My researchee is a 2nd Lt Carver, 6th Dragoons, who was in charge of carrying party. He and several members of his troop went to assist and were also overcome. He and four ORs died.

That's all I have from the Dragoons War Diary. My only other info, if it helps to pinpoint a Coy is that he is buried at Ecoivres Military Cemetery.

Anyone care to speculate about why there might be toxic fumes. No mention of any explosion in the Dragoons diary

Ta

John

[aconnolly]

John

Briefly, "toxic" fumes were simply due to the chemical makeup of the ground through which the tunnel was dug coupled with the flow/lack of flow of air. The "canary died" usually due to carbon monoxide, but other poisonous gases were not uncommon.

I have a lot of info on gas poisoning in tunnels from the medical perspective, but as I am at work and the boss is roaming.... Shall post more later.

Regards

Andrew

[aconnolly]

John

More on gases in mines and tunnels.

Carbon monoxide (CO) was the greatest risk. CO binds irreversibly to haemoglobin (Hb) - this is the stuff in blood that carries oxygen. When Hb binds CO, oxygen cannot be carried, result is collapse and rapid death.

CO is not naturally present in soil, but is the result of explosions and explosives. In broad terms most explosives used in mining by both Allied forces and the Germans were ammonium nitrate in nature – as far as gas is concerned this means that when exploded CO was released. The amount released varied according to the exact type of explosive, the quantity, and the quality. For example, TNT makes a lot of CO. Moisture made for greater production from any given amount compared with the same explosive used in dry conditions. Not surprisingly therefore, the Flanders area was prone to CO production as the water table was high and the ground moist. Even wet detonators and fuses released a lot more CO compared with dry ones.

Despite the dangers of water, wet ground did allow the dissipation of CO much faster than say chalk in other areas, so there were advantages and disadvantages from the ground itself.

CO production occurs whenever an underground explosion occurs and the gas can seep anywhere a fracture in the ground exists. Therefore a mine detonation that caused a crater exposed to the sky was not such a problem as the gas was rapidly dispersed, however a camouflet (explosion contained underground, designed to damage/destroy enemy mines) was a great problem both in the mine in which the explosion occurred and potentially in the mine “under attack”.

If the CO didn’t get you, the next risk was methane gas – this formed as the gases released in the explosion cooled. Hydrogen and carbon molecules could form methane - itself potentially deadly. Gas does cool very fast in underground conditions as a rule.

Whilst I have no detail at all on the incident you are researching, it is highly likely the gas was CO. Almost all mining/tunnelling on the Western Front involved use of ammonium nitrate explosives. However, other gases are possible. In some tunnels, petrol driven engine pumps were used to clear water – some cases of poisoning from fumes are recorded. Again, CO is the most common gas, but others could also exist. Another possibility is pure oxygen deficiency – rare, but simply a complete lack of oxygen can exist. It is most likely to occur where rotting organic matter sucks up oxygen causing a deficiency. An example exists of men being overcome when emptying rotting wheat from the hull of a ship that had been sunk and re-floated circa 1917.

Canaries and mice were routinely taken into tunnels/mines. The rapid breathing of these creatures meant that they should show the effects of gas poisoning before an adult man would be overcome. Expert tunnel rescue teams were well established on the Western Front, special equipment and much training went into these men.

Much of the above is based on the Official record as in the Medical Services history. I hope this explains some of the dangers faced by these most extraordinary men –the Tunnelling companies of the Western Front.

Regards

Andrew

[Chris_Baker]

John

Ecoivres is behind the Vimy Ridge front. I would suggest that the unit concerned was either 172, 176 or 181 Tunnelling Company RE. Here's why:

http://www.1914-1918.net/tunnelcoyre.htm

[John_Hartley]

Andrew/Chris

Thanks for the pointers. I shall go off war diary hunting.

John