A NEW video tells the story of how miners dug for victory on the Western Front in World War One.

Thousands of North-East colliery men volunteered to fight the Germans in Flanders but some served their country in their peace-time occupation - but on the front line.

Unlike the Bevan Boys of World War Two, they were employed to dig tunnels under enemy positions that were then blown up with massive amounts of explosives.

This little-known aspect of the Great War is brought to light in a video made by Puddle Productions, of West Rainton.

About 28,000 miners from around the Commonwealth - because they were not fighting records are sketchy about numbers - are thought to have been recruited to dig the tunnels as well as underground barracks and hospitals that were necessary because of the horrendous bombardment soldiers faced.

The firm has produced two popular videos, Brass and Banners and Brass and Banners 2001 - based around the Durham Miners' Gala - that have proved popular across the world.

John Mason and Hilary St John, have spent two years researching and producing the film, which highlights a largely overlooked aspect of the bloody 1914-18 conflict.

John said: "People know about the major battles but I thought it was a story that people did not know a lot about.''

Miners from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Wales and, of course, the North-East were among those who answered the call to deploy their skills in the trenches.

While miners who served as soldiers would earn a shilling a day, miners who went out as tunnellers could earn six shillings.

Not only did they face the everyday danger of being shot or shelled they also faced the chance of running into German tunnellers heading toward their lines. The miners tunnelled under German positions at Messines Ridge, overlooking Ypres, and laid 21 mines, 19 of which went off.

"The bang from Messines Ridge was so loud it was heard in Downing Street and Dublin,'' said Hilary.

The video, Miners at War, costs £14.95. and is available from shops and the Tourist Information Centres at Durham, Peterlee and Sunderland.

It can also be obtained from Puddle Productions, PO Box 90, Houghton-le-Spring, DH4 5XS.