Fighting in Tunnels

[mojalajab]

From The Great War 1914-1918: The Rage of Men

Pictured:
A sawn-off Lee Enfield Rifle for underground fighting.

Sometimes enemy sappers ran into each other underground, suddenly bursting through an underground wall. In these cases, nightmarish subterranean conflicts took place in the pitch dark, as man killed each other with knuckle-dusters, knives, and sawn-off bolt-action rifles.

But even more risks came.

When one side mined, the other side dug counter-mines. Sappers listened for vibrations from underground, and if they heard the enemy digging, they could rig another tunnel to blow in the enemy excavation. Or, like the ancient Persians, they could find the enemy sap and siphon in gas. And sometimes the methods of war underground were truly medieval.

Information

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[mrclark303]

That's got to rather lively to shoot, with one hell of a muzzle report!

[mojalajab]

I imagine that the muzzle flash would also be blinding in a dark, small tunnel.

[Roger Payne]

If you search back you'll see this hoary old chestnut of the tunnellers' cut down rifle has already been done to death a couple of years or so back. Opinions were divided to say the least.

[Promo]

Just recently looking through K98k rifles coming straight from a Yugo arsenal I also found some "pistols" among them (plus some with "lovely" Communist symbols hand engraved). I can't imagine how awful those must had been to shoot.

[harry mac]

Just recently looking through K98k rifles coming straight from a Yugo arsenal I also found some "pistols" among them (plus some with "lovely" Communist symbols hand engraved). I can't imagine how awful those must had been to shoot.

We confiscated just such a "pistol" in Banja Luka in 1999.

[Ovidio]

I imagine that must have gotten the hand sore like few other things.

[jonh172]

I wonder if there was training for such a device or if the first time a soldier fired it was in the heat of the moment?
Would be disorienting to say the least.

[bigduke6]

DRP Post #4 beat me to it, the example shown looks more like one of the ignitors for a mortar etc.......

[mrclark303]

DRP Post #4 beat me to it, the example shown looks more like one of the ignitors for a mortar etc.......

Looks suspiciously like a smoke discharger with the cup removed when compared Geoff. Even if taken at face value, surely with (at best) two inches of barrel, wouldn't the velocity be very limited and the bullet just haphazardly yaw all over the place with the blast? You would need to place it right between Harry Huns eyes to hit him!

Better off with a pointed stick...