FAMOUS BATTLE HAWTHORN RIDGE 1916

World War I tested the skill of the Royal Engineers as the reality of industrialised conflict demanded their expertise. Both sides faced the need to break through the enemy’s defensive entrenched positions, and it was into this situation of military stalemate that the RE came into its own.

Mining operations underneath enemy positions was a practice that dated back to ancient times, but it developed rapidly during WWI. The pre-war British Army did not consider underground