Examples of mining and countermining a fortress, from the 1915 'Scientific American War Book: The Mechanism and Technique of Warfare.
Mining and countermining in the attack and defense of a fortress.
"On 5 April [1917] Lieutenant-General A. Haldane of VI Corps wired the following message to Allenby:'I wish to bring to the Army Commanders' notice the excellent work done by the New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company . . . First under Major Durgan and now under Captain Vickerman, the work of the Company has been excellent. Now only have the men worked extremely hard and well, but the excellent relations that have been maintained with the various divisions shows a first-class organization.'The underground tunnels of Arras were complete. In total the network comprised 10,901 yards of subways. Designed as a protective system of tunnels, it clearly served its purpose: between 5 and 11 April, through one subway alone, it was later estimated that the traffic amounted to an amazing 9,700 men. It was a unique engineering achievement and, in the history of the British Army, never equaled before or since in the field of protective tunnelling on the scale accomplished at Arras and Vimy Ridge."
One element of the preparations for the Battle of Arras was the tunnels that would conceal British troops, and bring them safely to the front line. Miners had been engaged for tunneling, mining, and counter-mining, but not for advancing troops on the scale seen in Arras or at Vimy Ridge. General Edmund Allenby commanded the Third Army in the battle.
Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras, 1917 by Jonathan Nicholls, pp. 31–32, copyright © Jonathan Nicholls [1990 repeatedly renewed through] 2011, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2010
1917-04-05, 1917, April, Battle of Arras, Arras, Allenby, tunnelling, mining, engineer, undermining a fortress
