tugged away

[LordOfTheRings]

Please, help me with the following sentence

On our gun-deck all was bustle,smoke, grimy figures and stern commands, while down in the engine and boiler rooms the sixteen furnaces were belching out fire and smoke, and the firemen standing in front of them, like so many gladiators, tugged away with devil's-claw and slice-bar, inducing by their exertions more and more intence heat and combustion.

To my mind tuggged away is a p.p. here, so the firemen were "tugged away ???".... like gladiators ?????????.... Undressed? Separated? Arned?

No approvals for those could I find on I-Net and in dictionaries.

What could it mean?

Thank you.

[Bennevis]

put considerable effort into tugging, did it with some enthusiasm

"away" is known to add that kind of connotation in certain cases.

[LordOfTheRings]

Sorry, can you clarify?

They were standing, inducing. Not tugging but tugged. That confuses me.

Some kind of grammar form? Didn't met it yet.

[Bennevis]

Sorry, can you clarify?

They were standing, inducing. Not tugging but tugged. That confuses me.

Some kind of grammar form? Didn't met it yet.

"...and the firemen standing in front of them, like so many gladiators, tugged away with devil's-claw and slice-bar..."

[LordOfTheRings]

Thank you a lot.
That was a slip of my mind.
I mixed the first part ("were blenching") and the last part ("standing") of the sentence.