Mouse-holing is a tactic used in urban warfare, in which soldiers create access to adjoining rooms or buildings by blasting or tunneling through a wall. This tactic is used to avoid open streets where advancing infantry, caught in enfilade, are easily targeted by machine-gun and sniper fire. Another purpose is to reach enemy troops hidden inside a structure.
Use
This tactic was used by British soldiers in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising. Mouse-holing began to appear in military tactical manuals in World War II. With mouse-holing, combatants are able to move around an urban battlefield under cover, without needing to expose themselves to enemy fire or observation. A typical passage is large enough for a single file of soldiers. Large, unrestricted holes can compromise the structural integrity of the building, and offer little cover from opposing forces. During the Battle of Ortona in 1943, the Canadian Army, which gave the tactic its name, used it to great effect, breaching the walls of buildings with weapons such as the PIAT or Teller anti-tank mines. The soldiers would then throw ingrenades and assault through the mouse holes, clearing the stairs with grenades or machine-gun fire, and making their way up or down; then, the adversaries would struggle in repeated close-quarters combat. Mouse-holing was also used to pierce through walls into adjoining rooms, sometimes catching enemy troops by surprise. Creating a series of mouse-holes in a series of adjoining buildings, the strategy also allowed the troops to progress through the town, building by building, without entering the streets where they would face enemy fire. While some sources attribute the strategy to the Canadian forces, a British training film of 1941 had already illustrated the concept. Similar to tunnels used in rural battlefields, mouse-holes can also allow forces to infiltratebehind enemy lines, providing a significant tactical advantage. In some cases, a mouse-hole will be camouflaged with furniture, especially when they are created to aid a defending force or a clandestine operation. When used in defensive positions, mouse holes often join and combine with tunnels. This was used by the Red Army of the Soviet Union during the Battle of Stalingrad, where it allowed troops to consistently infiltrate areas to the German rear that were supposedly cleared. The ubiquitous availability of the Panzerfaust in the last months of the war made all sides use it to quickly breach buildings from unexpected directions. The tactic was used heavily by anti-coalition insurgents during the Iraq War who would connect houses converted into fortified bunkers by creating holes in walls in order to evade and ambush coalition troops. In addition, coalition snipers would utilize mouse-holing as a method of being able to fire at enemy fighters from further within rooms and other structures, thereby concealing their position.
Methods
Mouse holes can be made in light interior walls by hand or with small arms. More substantial walls require the use of explosives such as a satchel charge, or a large caliber, vehicle-mounted cannon or tank gun. If time and conditions allow, breaches can be made with even small amounts of explosive if properly tamped and braced, e.g. with sandbags and props, to direct the force of the explosion into the wall. Since the early 1990s many armies developed special purpose weapons like the MATADOR and SMAW specifically for this tactic.
