Background
Hackett was born 11 June 1873 to John and Harriet Hackett of Nottingham. He worked as a miner for 23 years in the Nottingham and Yorkshire coalfields, and was married to Alice.
Hackett was born 11 June 1873 to John and Harriet Hackett of Nottingham. He worked as a miner for 23 years in the Nottingham and Yorkshire coalfields, and was married to Alice.
After being rejected three times by the York and Lancaster Regiment for being too old, Hackett enlisted in the British Army on 25 October 1915, despite having been diagnosed with a heart condition. He spent two weeks of basic training at Chatham, joining 172nd Tunnelling Company. He later served with 254th Tunnelling Company, Corps of Royal Engineers.
Hackett died in an attempt to help fellow miners when a tunnel collapsed at Shaftesbury Avenue Mine on 26 June 1916.
Hackett"s name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Berkshire Cemetery Extension near Ploegsteert in Hainaut, Belgium. The Tunnellers Memorial, funded by private donation, is a war memorial to all tunnellers on the Western Front, revealed at the site of Shaftesbury Shaft, on 19 June 2010.