Miner
A miner is a pioneer soldier who had the task of digging a tunnel under the walls of the besieged fortress in order to bring the fortress walls down using a large explosive charge or to create an entrance for a possible surprise attack without being noticed.
etymology
The Middle High German word "durchvarære" describes the creation of a breakthrough by miners.
Military importance
During sieges, the miner had the task of digging a tunnel under the walls of the besieged fortress in order to create an entrance for a possible surprise attack without being noticed. Another approach was undermining . The miner dug the tunnel up to the foundation of a fortification, started a fire there that destroyed the support of the tunnel, and in this way caused the work to collapse. With the advent of gunpowder , undermining became even more effective. Like the sapper , the miner came under the collective term pioneer .
As early as the second siege of Vienna by the Turks who played mine warfare a significant role. In the trench warfare of the Western Front of the First World War tried miners of the Allies to break up by blasting, the fortified positions of the Germans to prepare the storm and thus to achieve the transition to mobile warfare. For this purpose, tunnels were created under the enemy's front positions and filled with tons of explosives. This mine war reached its climax in the third Battle of Flanders in 1917 (see Mines in the Battle of Messines ). However, the tactical effect was small here, although the explosions caused by the British in the 3rd and 4th Bavarian divisions on June 7, 1917 at the Battle of Messines resulted in very heavy losses. Miners also played a decisive role in the Alpine War between Austria-Hungary and the Italian troops , who tried to undermine the enemy's mountain positions over the years.
Homonyms
In Spanish-speaking countries, the miners are known as mineros . The English term miner is also derived from "mine" (from Latin minare, Roman. Menare to lead, operate).
Trivia
In the board game Stratego , miners have the task of clearing opposing landmines, contrary to reality .
literature
- Janusz Piekałkiewicz : The First World War . Weltbild, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0560-9 (reprint of the Düsseldorf edition 1988).
Web links
- Engineer officer. Retrieved October 7, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ottokar's Styrian Rhyme Chronicle , based on the transcripts of Franz Lichtenstein's ed. by Joseph Seemüller , 2 vols. (MGH Deutsche Chroniken V, 1–2), Hanover 1890–1893), verses 50631 and 50730. Cf. the entry durchvarære in the Middle High German dictionary
- ↑ Mine. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 12 : L, M - (VI). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1885 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
- ↑ mine, mine, mineral on etymologie.info