Rat of the tunnels

During the War of Vietnam, rats of the tunnels was the name given to soldiers charged to inspect and “clean” ( search & destroy ) the underground galleries dug not the Viêt-Cong S to shelter and tighten ambushes there. The first actions of this type took place at the beginning of 1966 after the discovery of the underground systems of the Vietcongs close to the river Saigon. The first groups were called the “tunnel runners” but the name of “tunnel rats” was essential quickly although the Australian soldiers preferred the term of “pipe cleaner of the tunnels”. These volunteers had most of the time a stoutness which lent itself to the course narrow tunnels.

The risks were great because of the crumblings, the poisonous animals, the traps (the “booby traps”) or of the presence of enemies hidden in various places of the undergrounds. The soldiers had minimal equipment, in general a gun or a revolver, a knife, some grenades with phosphorus or the Gaz CS and a flashlight which they were able to dismount even in the black to change the bulb. The choice of the weapon was particularly important because it was not to make noise too much, under penalty of deafening the soldier. The “rats” preferred the revolvers with the guns of the army and did not hesitate to add Silencieux to limit the noise.

To release from the bunkers or the broader zones, the rats of the tunnels used sometimes arranged bombs: a ammunition box was used as container for an explosive mixture or flamer (Napalm), a grenade was installed as a preliminary with a hole in the metal wall to let exceed the pin and start the device.

Films

Books

In the first novel of Michael Connelly, the Sewers of Los Angeles , the inspector Harry Bosch is an old rat of the tunnels and finds dead one of his/her former comrades of war. The original title, The Black Echo directly refers to the fear which tormented the soldiers at the time of their descents in the tunnels during the war.

External bonds

History

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