The army concentrated technical expertise already scattered through ordinary units. A mining organizer drove between commands in his own Rolls-Royce, asked which soldiers had worked as miners, and sought permission to transfer them. Commanders resisted losing useful men, so personal persuasion and gifts of champagne and whisky helped secure their release. Wartime organization depended on finding civilian skills inside the force and negotiating their transfer into specialist units.
Notable Point · 3:43-4:41
Mining companies recruited expertise already at the front
A specialist organizer toured front-line units to identify serving miners and negotiate their transfer into dedicated tunnelling formations.