One of the others, Thomas Collins, had some ribs broken and could not crawl through the very small hole that had been driven through. The other fellow,William Hackett, offered to stop with him until they could make the hole bigger so they passed some food to them. They had no sooner done that than there was another fall and they were entombed again.”
Work went on throughout the next two days in a strenuous effort to rescue the two men. But on 27 June 1916, John French wrote: “Abandoned all hope of getting those two chaps out this morning and stopped all rescue work for the condition of the shaft was so bad as to endanger the lives of themen working down there and they think that they are both dead. That chap Hackett died a hero for he could have come out with the others but would not leave his injured comrade.”
Peter Barton said funds for the memorial had been raised as a community effort, with hundreds of people making contributions. “We could have accepted one big donation, but we wanted a wide range of people involved,” he said. Fundraisers ranged froma formerminer who gave £2 fromhis pension, to a teamof Royal Engineers who carried out a sponsored twenty-four-hour static bike ride in a supermarket.
FAR LEFT: The memorial being dedicated on 19 June 2010. In the rectangular block of thememorial is a hollow ‘T’ which is representative of the patch worn by the tunnellers. The hollow ‘T’ is filled with clear glass on which ismarked a set of cross- hairs. As you look on through the ‘T’, the cross- hairs fall onto the spot on the field beneath which the Shaftsbury Shaft is located – the spot marked during the service by a large ‘T’. (Courtesy of Michael Forsyth via Tony Edwards) LEFT: The
Tunnellers’ Memorial at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée. The Shaftsbury mine system has been located in recent years using geo-physical ground-
penetrating radar. It, and the men entombed within, lie today under the farmer’s field beyond the memorial. (Peter Cook)
BELOW: An artist’s impression of
the memorial. The base of the memorial is circular, the same
shape and dimension as the Shaftsbury Shaft. On the circular base stands a rectangular block, the same dimension as the tunnel leading off the shaft in which Hackett and Collins lie. (Peter Cook) LEFT: A piper during the ceremony. (Courtesy of Elizabeth Wislocka via Tony Edwards)
Hackett andCollins remain buried, together, at the same spot, to this day.
Another VC holder, Field-Marshall Sir Evelyn Wood VC, subsequently wrote that Hackett hadmade “themost divine-like act of self sacrifice”. Then, on 4 August 1916, in a supplement to The London Gazette, it was announced that Hackett had been posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
WilliamHackettwas born in Sneinton, nearNottingham, so itwas fitting that the Nottingham Band of the Royal Engineers should play at Givenchy on the day of the memorial’s unveiling.
Guests were welcomed by the Mayor of the town, Monsieur Jacques Herbaut. There were addresses by Lieutenant General David Bill, who represented the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Chief Royal Engineer; and from Peter Barton, the historian who led the campaign for the Tunnellers’ Memorial. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Defence Attachés were also present.
The Reverend Pat Aldred, of the Garrison Church, Gillingham, offered blessings for the two entombed Sappers, after which the last post was sounded before a two minutes silence. The Memorial was unveiled jointly by M. Herbaut and Monsieur Rene Cuvelier, Premier Adjoint au Maire, after which wreaths and tributes were laid.
AUGUST 2010
• Peter Barton, who is co-author of the definitive Beneath Flanders Fields – The Tunnellers’ War 1914-18, states that the fund raising effort continues in an effort to purchase seating, an information panel and other enhancements for the memorial site. Cheques can be sent to The Tunnellers Memorial Fund, PO Box 258, Faversham, Kent, ME13 3AN. Electronic donations can be made to account number 10026611 sort code 40-21-35.
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