Photo of the reservists from the 4th company of Pommerschen Pionier Bataillon Nr. 2.
My second photo of Pommersches Pionier Bataillon Nr. 2, is from much older period and presents a 4th company which is the Pioneer mining company. Each 4th company in the pre War Pioneer Battalion structure was a miner company.
The photo was taken in 1883 on the backyard of the Stettiner barracks on the Körnerstraße street. The photo is described Ersatz 1883 der Mineur-Comp. Pomm-Pionier-Battl. Nr.2.
Similar as on the previous photo of the Stettiner pioneers there are visible miner equipment: saws, wooden hammers, spades, picks, axes mainly digging equipment. On the left side there is visible a mining trolley “Minenhund” signed: Ersatz 1883 Mineur-Comp. P.P.B.2
During the World War I pioneer mining companies (Pioneer-Mineur-Kompagnie) were mainly involved on the Western Front in Flanders, where both warring parties digging tunnels under the enemy’s trenches. Then there placed the explosives and blew up the enemy trenches.