Tunnellers - The Story of the Tunnelling Companies Royal Engineers during the World War by Captain W. Grant Grieve and B Newman.
Unit History book of the Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers during the World War One. Australians are mentioned but it is not a dedicated book to the Australian Companies. However, all tunnelling operations were under the command of the Royal Engineers. It is valuable further reading for people wanting more information of the operations, history, life and times, methods of mining on the Western Front.
Especially if you have seen the Australian Movie Beneath Hill 60. Set during World War I, the film tells the story of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company’s effort to mine beneath a German Bunker and detonate an explosive to aid the advance of British troops. The screenplay is based on an account of the ordeal written by Captain Woodwood.
Undoubtedly the best and most comprehensive account of the war underground, a history of the Tunnelling Companies, RE, during the Great War. In all twenty-five British, three Australian, three Canadian and one N Zealand company were formed. After a shaky start in December 1914 the miners of the BEF gradually overcame their opposite numbers in the grim warfare under the trenches, and had finally defeated them by the time of Messines in June 1917. But, as the narrative shows, the war for the miners did not end there as they fought through the German Spring 1918 offensive and the BEF's Advance to Victory. Demolitions, booby traps, neutralising anti-tank mines, even fighting as infantry (No 1 and No 2 RE Battalions) were among the tasks and roles allotted to them.