compagnie de sapeurs-mineurs

CONT: En 1939 les armées européennes ignorent les engins de terrassement. Pour la France, par exemple, la compagnie de sapeurs-mineurs dispose organiquement de 96 pelles, 76 pioches et 76 haches [...]

CONT: The pre-war Army had no specific organisation for carrying out sapping, mining and tunnelling operations, although most men of the Royal Engineers received some training in the subject. Digging beneath an enemy position with the object of destroying it is essentially an act of siege warfare, and military planning did not believe that this was a serious possibility. However, by the end of 1914 it was clear that the entrenched positions of the Western Front were akin to siege conditions.