Supporting tunnelling operations in the Great War

Few soldiers on the Western Front had heard of the Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company, even after it had been renamed the 'Alphabet Company' by an AIF wag.

Yet many knew the work of this tiny unit which numbered fewer than 300 at full strength.

Despite its small size, the Alphabet Company's influence was enormous and spanned the entire British sector of the Western Front, from the North Sea to the Somme.

This is the story of the 'Alphabeticals' who, led by Major Victor Morse, DSO, operated and maintained pumps, generators, ventilation fans, drilling equipment and other ingenious devices in extreme circumstances.

Given the horrendous conditions in which the troops lived and fought, this equipment was desperately needed, as were the men who operated it in the same, often nightmarish setting.