accessible. To the end of the instantaneous fuse
was spliced a sufficient iengtli of time fuse to allow
it to be spitted and then to reach the surface in
safety. This was always put in, but on no occasion
was it used. The only failure of electric firing
experienced was on July 10th, when one of the sub-
sidiary charges failed through a previous explosion
having severed the leads and fuse.

In this connection one of the little jests of the
men was as follows : occasionally a hand-thrown
bomb of the jampot type would land with the fuse
extinguished, in which case it could be lighted and
returned to its original source. Some of the men
amused themselves by stripping a piece of instan-
taneous fuse of its distinctive covering and sub-
stituting a piece of it for the usual short piece of
time fuse in our own jampot bomb, and then
throwing it nnUghted at the enemy trench. The
German would light it, thinking he could throw it
back, but it would burst at once.

Having run the leads and fuse back as requisite,
the tamping would be done. It is obvious that
the explosion will seek the easiest path, and there-
fore one has to give the charge a solid backing or
tamping to prevent it blowing down the gallery
like a shot out of a gun. This tamping should be



146 ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

one and a half times the distance of soHd ground
to be broken through, i.e. for twenty feet, say
thirty-five feet of tamping. It was, however, not
always practicable to give it such a margin of
safety. Laying the tamping was a lengthy and
arduous job ; filled sandbags, lowered from the
surface, had to be dragged in to the face and
stacked as tightly as possible. A tamped distance
of thirty feet would require the best part of a day's
work. Altogether the importance of making good
connections, &c., required the utmost care in
making preparations for a "blow" (all the
delicate work was done by one of the officers), so
that from first charging to actual firing might take
the best part of twenty-four hours, or in the case
of elaborate charges even longer. The most rapid
work was that of the camouflet of July 5th — two
hours. This was only achieved as something was
anticipated ; leads were laid and sandbags stacked
all along the gallery before the necessity for action
arose. Furthermore, only a short tamping was
necessary, as a connection to the Boche working
was already established. Ventilation and pump
hose would be withdrawn before firing to avoid
damage from the explosion.

All preparations for firing having been com-
pleted and having warned neighbouring trenches
not to be alarmed, the officer in charge would
satisfy himself that all sappers were on the surface
and, where the charge was anywhere near the



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. 147

trench, that the troops had been withdrawn, to
avoid injury from possible topphng parapets, &c.
The officer would then take the small hand magneto
iiring machine, give it a twist or two to. excite the
magneto, connect the leads, and then — '* I hope
those blessed connections are all O.K." — one
twist of the wrist, accompanied simultaneously, so
it seems, by the characteristic heave of the ground
^vhich answers that everything was O.K. and that
the charge has fired. Another successful " blow " !

Even a fairly large charge in a camouflet makes
curiously little noise, at the most a rumble, and
even a crater only gives a dull roar ; but the heave
of the ground is unmistakable, like a young earth-
quake. In the case of a large charge the motion
feels something like the combined roll and pitch
of a ship in a short choppy sea. This heave can
be felt at a distance of a mile or several miles,
depending on the size of the charge. The troops
in our sector became fairly used to it, provided
they had due warning.

After firing, the ventilating pipe was dropped
in the shaft, the blower started, and then, as far
as that working place was concerned, a period of
rest, twelve hours or so, to dissipate any gases that
might have leaked through the tamping. This
would then be tested by eventually lowering some
.small animal, in our case a rabbit, which otherwise
led a luxurious life as the pet and mascot of the
party. It ultimately came to an untimely end



I4S ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

through an uninitiated officer shooting it with his
revolver, which nearly caused a mutiny.

After testing the air one could enter the gallery
again. The explosion would have wrecked and,
near the charge, completely destroyed some length
of it, and after extracting the tamping, which was
usually slightly displaced but still largely intact,
the wrecked portion would have to be driven anew^
only with rather more care, as the ground was
completely shattered.

Guns, etc. — It may be well to explain that
" whizzbangs " are the shells from field guns.
Fired with a high velocity and low trajectory,
the explosion follows almost simultaneoush' on the
sound of the shell in flight. Howitzer shells, with
their high angle, can be heard for some appreciable
time before thev burst, and are even visible as a
black streak at the moment of falling to the
groimd. Armour-piercing or delay action shells
are percussion shells with the fuse-plug in the base,
and penetrate into the ground before bursting.
They are used to destroy field works, but, except
in the case of a direct hit, are comparatively harm-
less, as they smother themselves, though the shock
of the explosion is rather alarming. The same is
true of the minenwerfer or " sausage," a glorified
bomb, which one can see wobbling through the
air, and for that reason particularly upsetting, as
it is difficult to judge where it will fall. They have



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. 149

a most destructive effect at the point of impact^
being nothing but thin tubes packed with high
explosive, but having no weight of metal to scatter
about, the radius of destruction is very circum-
scribed.

From an examination of the German explosive
found at Hill 60 it proved to be Westphalite, a
low-grade dynamite compoimd, not too reliable
in its action.

In conclusion the Mole wishes to pay a tribute
to the steadfast courage and endurance of his
"opposite number," H. It is a pleasure to state
that he finished the war having won numerous
decorations and repeated promotion, all of which
was richly deserved.



ISO



ONE MOLE RAMPANT.



Af


>ril 14.


May


3.


5 J


17.


J>


26.


J»


28.


June


5.


July


5.


J J


10.


5


>


17.


3


>


24.


3


J


25.


3


J


28.


3


>


30.


3


5


30.


)


»


31.


Ai


Ig-


1.


!


3


2.


)


3


3.



LIST OF " BLOWS ''



-Enemy, Ql.
-Our camouflet A.

A.

D.

A.

D.

C.

-General ** blow " by us in all places.
-Enemy, front of E.
-Ours, C and cross-cut.
-Enemy, right of C.
-Enemy, between Q and Mound.
-Our camouflet C.
-Enemy, C.
-Our camouflet C.
-Enemy, T and two in C.
-Enemy, C.
-Enemy, front of Q.



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. 151

CHAPTER XIV

DIARY ENTRIES

The following *' diary entries " under the respec-
tive dates are based on brief notes. Letters written
by the Mole are indicated as such. In some
instances amplifying notes are added.

The entries commence at Kemmel, shortly after
the arrival of the Mole (referred to as Lieut. G.)
there. H. and G. are instructed to take over work
at St. Eloi, a defensive mine started in a ruined
house in the remains of St. Eloi village.

Taking Over At St. Eloi

March 24, 1915. — Lieut. H. went to Dicke-
busch with Capt. Johnston and Lieut. G. to
arrange about billets. None available. 10 p.m.,.
went to St. Eloi by foot to inspect site, returned
2.30 A.M. Note : this meant starting work while
still billeted at Kemmel, a considerable distance
and very inconvenient. All movement took place
at night, as much of this area (between St. Eloi
and Kemmel) was open to enemy observation by
day. There were no communication trenches in

those days.

March 25. — Lieut. H. to Dickebusch by foot
at 3.30 P.M. to see stores loaded and handed to
fatigue. (Note: Timber, sandbags, &c., collected
from R.E. dump at Dickebusch, and to be sent.



152 ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

to St. Eloi.) Met fatigue at 8 p.m. and took them
to site. Started work. Returned. (Note : To
Kemmel) 1 a.m.



[letter]

" March 26, 1915.

'* We are at last getting settled down to work
a little. We are billeted in our old haunts (K),
but our own particular place is several miles north
along the line, and it takes about two hours to
reach it. Curiously enough, my old regiment has
also gone up there, and I have already seen most
of my old friends. M. and W. have taken over
a working place to the south (they are the two who
were with me), while I am acting as junior to the
sub. who was already on the job. We all billet
together, and have fairly decent quarters. Of
course we are now in a much better position to
make ourselves comfortable.

'■ The general programme of work is about as
follows, subject to modification as necessit}^ arises :
A party of about fifteen men, with two or three
N.C.O.'s, go up to the working place for a spell
of forty-eight hours. They work in three shifts of
eight hours, and billet in an adjacent farmhouse.
My senior and I alternate leaving at dusk, march-
ing up and spending the night supervising the work
until it is time to return, getting in again just
before dawn. We are fortimate in having com-



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. 153

paratively good ground to work in, but some of the
other places are very bad indeed.

" You will no doubt have received my card
giving address as 172nd Company, Royal En-
gineers, Second Army. I got your last letter to
the H.A.C.

" We have already had some interesting events.
In one place the parapet of the trench started spew-
ing sandbags into the shaft and practically filled it
up. Fortunately no one was in it at the time. In
another shaft quicksand began to come in and filled
up the bottom. I don't know whether they can
recover it. One of my fellow-officers got shot
(killed) the other night through needlessly exposing
himself in front of the trench. Two others lost
their way and walked bang into the German lines,
but got away without being spotted.

Last night, as the only officer in billets, a man
was reported to me for striking an N.C.O. — a most
serious offence on active service. Of course, I was
absolutely unfamiliar with the proper military pro-
cedure, particularly as we never had an military
crimes in the old regiment. However, I put him
under arrest with a guard over him, which seems
to have been the proper thing, and we held an in-
vestigation this morning. His mates back him up
with a cock and bull story of the N.C.O. falling
against a chair. I suppose the whole thing will go
to a court martial.

I met quite a number of my old comrades who



a



154 ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

are now at the Artists' training school for officers,
so it would seem as if pressure had been brought to
l)ear on the colonel regarding commissions.

" Captain Johnson, V.C., does not believe in
taking unnecessary risks, and has impressed us with
the necessity of taking all due precautions, though,
as a matter of fact, I believe he himself takes a good
many chances. He reminds me somewhat of V.
— a very soft-spoken sort of chap but as hard as
nails. He is absolutely untiring and skips about
all over the country as he has a large area under his
charge. How he ever gets any sleep is still a
mystery.

" The Germans have been firing pretty actively
at night. The weather has been rather raw and
cold again."

March 26.— Major N. G. and Captain Johnson
arrived 7.30 p.m. Went to St. Eloi 10.20 p.m.
with Lieut. G. Returned 3 a.m.

March 27. — Lieut. G. to St. Eloi with relief at
7.15 P.M. Major N. G. and Captain Johnson
visited work at 9.30 p.m. and discussed methods.
Lieut. G. returned 4.30 a.m.

March 28. — Lieut. H. to Bailleul at 12 noon.
Returned with lorry to Dickebusch (Note : with
tiiuber) at 6.30 p.m. Later, took lorry to K.S.H.
(Note : Kruisstraathoek) and met fatigue at 10
p.m. ; then to St. Eloi. Returned 2.45 a.m.

March 29. — ^Major N. G. and Captain Johnson
.at Kemmel 10 a.m. Inquired into cases of men



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. 155

transferred at 6s. rate. Men voluntarily retrans-
f erred and agreed to stop on at 2s. 2d. rate.

Lieut. G. to St. Eloi via La Clytte, where he
picked up lorry and timber. Left 7.30 p.m.

March 30. — Captain Johnson at Kemmel.
Lieut. H. to Dickebusch with lorry and timber. No
fatigue party as message had not been delivered to
85th Bde. Tried the Buffs — no good. Eventually
obtained one from Northumberland Fusiliers.
Reached trench 1 a.m.

Note: The supplies at that time mostly came
from Bailleul (company headquarters), and were
taken to K.S.H., at which point they had to be
carried up by hand by a fatigue party. This was
supplied by the infantry brigade occupying the
trench. Fatigue parties were a constant source of
annoyance and delay as they were often late, or
assembled at a wrong place instead of the design-
ated meeting-point, or failed to turn up altogether.
In return the P.B.I, heartily cursed the Sappers as
the cause of their blinkin' fatigues.

March 31. — Lieut. H. remained in trench all
day.

Note: The practice had been to go up at dusk,
and return, getting in before daybreak, but the
long tramp from Kemmel to St. Eloi and back after
a night in charge was very tiring, and as H. only
got there at one in the morning he would on this
occasion otherwise have had no time there at all.

Captain Johnson visited in the evening^



156 ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

Sapper King attached as orderly, left without
orders and did not return to billets.

Lieut. G. went to K.S.H. to connect relief,
fatigue and timber.

Aiyril 1. — Lieut. G. to St. Eloi with search-
party for Sapper King, who was found ; said he had
lost his way and laid up behind trenches during day
time. (Note: So he said!)

[letter]

''April 1, 1915.
" We have now two motor bikes between four
of us, and may perhaps eventually get one apiece.
They are Douglas twin-cylinder belt-driven
machines with two gears and apparently quite use-
ful machines. As none of us had ever ridden one,
the trial trips w^re quite exciting and must have
been verj^ amusing for the onlookers. As I
claimed to know most about it, I led the way, and,
after looking the machine over to see what the
various levers worked, I made my first attempt.
Although not particularly graceful, it was quite
successful. The others then followed, but each
came quite a purler before they began to get the
hang of it all. The machines showed marked signs
of wear and tear by the time we stopped. They
ought to be quite useful for running into town to
get any little things that are necessary for the work,
though I doubt if we can do much to utilise them in
getting to our work.



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. is7



a



We had a nasty business at one of our work-
ing places. The Germans landed a trench-mortar
bomb bang on top of it and killed one man and
badly wounded three others. The shaft itself was
not damaged, but the men were working over a
refractory pump on top. Several others had at
various times been wounded by ' strays ' on their
way to or from the trenches. Last night was bright
moonlight, very nice for walking, but rather too
light for safety. I was leading a large party carry-
ing timber up when one of the party had a bullet
through his cap. I think it must have been a
sniper as the report sounded very close. Fortun-
ately no damage done.

*' The men are mostly from the mining districts
and have been transferred from line regiments.
Thus I have a good many Royal Scots in my party.
There are also some specially enlisted men who have
worked for municipal corporations on sewers, etc.,
and they act as foremen. They are very useful
men, but, as they have had absolutely no military
training, they are quite unfamiliar with Army
methods. That, however, is a minor (not miner)
detail on this job. Of course one has many difi&cul-
ties to contend with that would not occur on a
•' civvy " job. All timber has to be requisitioned,
with much red tape, carrying parties arranged for,
and, of course, all movement at night. The
Brigadiers are kicking like steers at the large num-
ber of men required for these fatigue parties, but
they are essential for carrying on the work.



158 ONE MOLE RAMPANT.



a



The men spend forty-eight hours in the
trenches, where they have quite comfortable dug-
outs, with braziers going. They work during this
period four hours on and four hours off. After
their spell in the trenches they have four days' rest,
so they are not badly off — much better, I think,
than the troops in the infantry.'



?>



Ayril 2.— Lieuts. H. and G. to Bailleul and to
see C.R.E. Ilird Div. re St. Eloi second mine.
To Dickebusch and K.S.H. per lorry. No fatigue
arrived. Inspected site in R.B. trench {Note:
later known as Ql) and returned.

April 3. — Lieut. G. takes up blower. Lieut.
H. in, with small party for R.B. trench. Enemy
shelled house {Note : where the mine was). Six
casualties.

Note. — The new site in R.B. trench (Ql) was
at the left end, just opposite the Mound, and, like
the first St. Eloi mine, also in a house. Under
close observation by the enemy from the Mound,
and quietness and precaution necessary.

[letter]

'' ApnlS, 1915.

" M. has just left for another section of the line^
having been transferred to another company where
they were very short of officers. W. remains here,
but we expect to be leaving him before very long,
as we are to move to different quarters. The
address should, however, remain the same.



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. 159

•' I forgot to mention that I have a ' batman '
(Anglice : servant) now who looks after my things.
As far as work is concerned, we officers do rather
more than the ordinary Tommy, as we are on the
go most of the time — trench work at night, super-
vision of rations, inspection of arms, pay, roll calls,
etc., by day. However, we manage to get a fair
amount of sleep and do ourselves quite well with
feeding, etc. In comparison with previous days,
it is quite luxurious.

" One of our little jobs is, of course, the censor-
ing of the men's letters. As they write most pro-
lifically in an execrable hand, it takes some time.
Some of the letters are quite weird, and the
language is, as in their colloquial speech, red hot.

" Getting quite expert on the Douglas, though
the roads are so frightfully bumpy that we do not
go off except on business.

" Weather bright and clear, frosty at night."

We Start Operations

April 4. — Cellar cleaned out in R.B. trench and
dug-out room sandbagged.

Lieut. G. looked for 04 trench to report on
noise, but could not connect with guide. Returned
at 1 A.M.

Note. — Cellar was full of rotten potatoes, and

stank like . One room, fairly intact, was to

be used as resting-place for the half of the working
party that was off shift.



i6o ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

As for guide, he was not to be found. This
was one of the frequent reports of " sounds of
hostile mining," and one of us would have to turn
out to investigate. If possible, it would be dealt
with by the one on trench duty, otherwise, it fell
to the oTher of us two, who was resting preparatory
to the next tour of duty in the trench, so it was
always highly unpopular.

[letter]

''Aprils, 1915.

" The senior sub. (H.) is a very decent sort and
very capable. He is a mining man from the Straits
(tin), and only joined for the war. I believe V.
and his regiment are not far away from us (to the
N.), but do not know definitely. For all practical
purposes w^e might be on opposite sides of the
Globe.

" The N.C.O. assault case was dropped with a
few days' arrest as there seems to have been con-
siderable provocation. Still, if the Captain had car-
ried it to a court martial the man would un-
doubtedly have had a very heavy sentence.

" We are starting a second working place, and
it all keeps us tremendously busy. The alternation
has proved rather a myth, and both of us have been
out practically every night. We now propose
alternately spending twenty-four hours in the
trenches and will see how that works. We have
bad quite a lot of wet weather again.



0}^E MOLE RAMPANT. i6i



a



Pride goes before a fall ! With the pave as
slippery as ice, the Douglas wagged her tail with a
vengeance the last time I was out and I was on
tenterhooks all the time. Skidded over several
times, but was going slowly, so no damage was
done.

" I am sorry to say we had some casualties from
shelling the trenches the other night. They had
been shelling along the line, and finally landed a
crump next door to our working place ; one man
killed, one badly wounded and two bruised. Rotten
luck, as it is really only about one chance in a
thousand of their dropping near our particular
places."

April 5. — Lieut. G. to Dickebusch to inspect
billets and collect timber. Fatigue of Liverpool
Scots two hours late. After G. inspected Nos. 1
and 2, listened in 04 — nothing. Returned 4.30

A.M.

Note. — Original mine in St. Eloi designated
No. 1 in trench R2, and subsequent forward mine
designated No. 2 in trench Ql.

Apnl 6. — Lieut. H. to Bailleul, returned 6
P.M. Visited St. E. Progress report. Returned
3 A.M. Heavy rain.

Note. — On return to billets a message was
always written out stating progress of the work and
any remarks, handed to orderly and sent to brigade
signalling station, whence transmitted to company
headquarters.



i62 ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

New Billets

A'pril 7. — Moved to Dickebusch in the morn-
ing. Lieut. G. to trenches.

Note. — At last found habitable quarters vacant
in Dickebusch.

[letter]

** April 8, 1915.

"Work progressing quite well under the cir-
cumstances, though it is bound to be rather slow.
Here is a typical sort of day : up at 11 a.m., cup of
tea, inspection of arms 11.30, an enormous break-
fast at 12, in the afternoon pay roll and
arranging for supplies. About two hours' rest
to look at papers, etc. Dinner cum tea at
5. Left billets with two orderlies at 6 to
walk to crossroads A, where saw timber
unloaded from motor lorry (from headquarters) into
wagon. Drove to R.E. park to pick up corrugated
sheeting and sandbags, arrival at crossroads B,
where all unloaded by 8.45. Fatigue party of
seventy men supposed to meet me here at 9, but did
not show up. At 10 left orderly No. 1 there, and
proceeded up to the working places. Here a mes-
senger caught me with a wire : ' Please inspect
trench X, where they think they hear Germans
mining.' No signs of fatigue party or stores.
Returned to crossroads at midnight. Orderly No.
1 and stores vanished into thin air. By the .way.



ONE MOLE RAMPANT. 163

all this in pouring rain. Left orderly No. 2 and
proceeded alone to crossroads C, where eventually
picked up guide for trench X. Went up there but
could hear nothing at all. Returned and went back
to crossroads B, where I now (3 a.m.) found both
orderlies. The fatigue party had turned up at 11
and must have passed within fifty yards of us across
the fields, but it was so pitch black that we had not
seen them. Returned to billets, arriving 4.30
A.M., with daylight just appearing, very wet and
just about able to shove one foot in front of the
other. Sent in wire report. In bed at 5 a.m.
Breakfast next morning very much in neglige. My
senior had been just as busy as I on other things
and had been howked out to look at another trench
by Johnson (who may appear anywhere at any
hour of the twenty-four), and did not get in very
much earlier.

" Thank goodness, it is not always quite as
strenuous as that, though it is quite a fair sample.

" We have now shifted into new, billets, which
are a trifle nearer the scene of operations. H. and
I are now alone together. W. was left at the last
place, where he is to be joined by another."

April 8. — Struck heavy flow of sewage, prob-
ably from cess-pit.

Note, — This was No. 1, which was running out
under remains of houses in front of that part of the
trench — firing trench — with the purpose of blowing



i64 ONE MOLE RAMPANT.

up all cover if the enemy occupied them by snipers
or otherwise.

Ayrii 9. — Lieut. H. to trenches. No fatigue
arrived.

[letter]

''April 9, 1915.

'• I am writing to-night as I shall not have to
turn out — the first time for a considerable period —
unless I get some wire about visiting trenches.
People are getting rather panicky about German