Filmmaker pushes more official citation for ANZAC tunnellers

There’s a move to win greater recognition for the contribution of miners in the Great War. Around 4,600 troops from mines across every state enlisted for service in World War 1, said amateur historian and executive producer of film Beneath Hill 60, Ross Thomas, who believes there were acts of bravery that have gone unheralded for more than a century. Miners' contribution to war recognised The film depicts the efforts of Australian tunnellers who help advanced a stalemate at the site south of Ypres in Belgium in the Battle of Messines in April 1917 with the detonation of two mines beneath Hill 60 and 'The Caterpillar'. The tunnellers were old for soldiers Sappers tunneling at Hill 60 near Ypres during WW1 The tunnellers conducted secret operations, were allocated to British armies and at 42 years average age, older than the average digger, Mr Thomas said. The lack of identification meant they were largely ignored, he said. Australian War Memorial “It is significant that we recognise mining had a silent role but now we’re proud to promote the contribution the tunnellers did play,” Mr Thomas said. “The whole concept of going under the enemy lines was considered an ‘ungentlemanly-like’ way of conducting warfare. It wasn’t the honourable way of killing … it was frowned upon by the military hierarchy at the time. Go underground to advance “A pre-cursor to the tunnelling activity was stalemate and when you couldn’t get ground on the surface the obvious thing was to go underground. “There was offensive mining, blowing big charges and defensive mining, an intimate, private battle between opposing sappers occasionally breaking into each other’s workings and hand to hand combat in very, very claustrophobic environments. “The use of short barrelled rifles, Molotov cocktails and daggers attached to wrists fighting in complete darkness. “Some of this is reflected in the film and gives the public an idea of the most terrifying aspect of this warfare that we didn’t hear about.” One miner was decorated with a Victoria Cross and the film’s central character, Captain Oliver Woodward from Charters Towers, was decorated three times during the war with the Military Cross, one of which was during a tunnelling deployment. There were few other citations he could name despite the danger of the work and the impact the action had on the war. Heroic action unheralded His research suggested there were heroic actions that have gone unheralded one of which occurred on ANZAC Day 1917, Mr Thomas said. “Most definitely I would support any post-humous awards desirous of tunnellers, once again a type of warfare we know very little about. “In the lead up to the placement of the mines at Hill 60, a number of Aussies from the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company were killed in a little known event securing these charges that were being laid leading up to the firing of these mines as part of the Battle of Messines Ridge. “There was an arterial bombardment and ten were killed … there was very little known about that incident and I would certainly like to push that they be acknowledged for the work that they did. “One of them, Corporal John William Saxton, was actually killed trying to rescue those that were buried in that bombardment. So perhaps CPL Saxton would be a particular case where an award could be given.”

Filmmaker pushes more official citation for ANZAC tunnellers

Industry Queensland

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