tunnelling

Troops of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company play with their mascot, Snowy the cat, in Dainville, near Arras, France. This photograph was taken on 16 July 1918.

Members of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company on board the troop ship Ruapehu, on Christmas Day, 1915. The troops had left New Zealand on 18 December and arrived in Plymouth, England, on 3 February 1916. A month later they became the first New Zealanders to reach the Western Front in France.

The best way for tunnellers to locate the enemy underground during the First World War was to use the geophone. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company official history tells us that the geophone:

A view inside the Wellington cavern, which was built by New Zealand tunnellers beneath the town of Arras, France, during the First World War, and is now the site of an undergound museum, Carrière Wellington.

Image taken at the opening of the Carrière Wellington museum on 15 February 2008.

This image shows the steps leading up to No. 10 exit from the caverns beneath the town of Arras in France, which were dug by New Zealand tunnellers during the First World War. Discarded helmets can be seen on the steps. This exit was intended to open up into no-man's land to allow troops to attack during the April 1917 offensive.

Image taken at the opening of the Carrière Wellington museum on 15 February 2008.

These images show examples of writing on the walls of the Arras tunnel system.

Prime Minister William Massey addresses soldiers of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company near Arras, France, on 2 July 1918. Immediately behind him is his deputy, Sir Joseph Ward. 

This tunnel, leading to the Christchurch cavern beneath Arras, France, was built by the New Zealand Tunnelling Company during the First World War. It was one of a series of caverns and tunnels at Arras named after New Zealand cities and towns.