Pages tagged with: tunnelling

During the First World War the men of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company, many of them hardbitten West Coast miners, helped create a vast network of military tunnels under the French town of Arras.

With both the Allies and the Germans trying to tunnel under each other’s lines to lay mines, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company's experience was invaluable.

Soldiers of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company play with their mascot, Snowy the cat in Dainville, France.

Members of  the New Zealand Tunnelling Company on board the troop ship Ruapehu, on Christmas Day, 1915

The best way for tunnellers to locate the enemy under ground during the First World War was to use the geophone

Cavern build by New Zealand tunnellers under the town of Arras in France.

Steps and First World War helmets in one of the Arras tunnels

 Writing on the cavern walls at Arras

Prime Minister William Massey addresses soldiers of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company at Arras, 1918.

This photograph shows the tunnel leading to the Christchurch cavern under Arras, France, which was built by the New Zealand Tunnelling Company during the First World War.

Members of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company lay mines in a road near Arras, France, on 17 July 1918.

Map showing the tunnels beneath Arras where the New Zealand Tunnelling Company was active