The men who volunteered for the New Zealand Tunnelling Company were mostly miners from towns like Waihi or Reefton – or they were bushmen and labourers. They were rough, tough men, used to working in dangerous situations and looking out for their mates. Many belonged to trade unions and didn’t take kindly to authority, but they soon learned to march, salute, and take orders. In December 1915, after basic military training in Auckland, more than four hundred men left for the Western Front. Several smaller groups of tunnellers followed later as reinforcements. The Tunnelling Company arrived in the northern French town of Arras in the freezing winter of March 1916. Arras had once been beautiful – but by 1916, it was in ruins. Most of the civilians had been evacuated, and British troops occupied the shattered buildings. Every day, German artillery Ɠ red shells into the town. Other tunnelling companies were already based near Arras, and each one was in charge of a certain area. The New Zealanders were sent to replace French tunnellers who were digging beneath a network of trenches named the Labyrinth. It was here – just north of Arras – that the New Zealanders joined the war underground.
Trade unions - a group of workers who come together to fight for better working conditions (E.g. cleaner places, better pay, better hours).
Waihi - a place in NZ - north island - where they had a big mine.
Miners - people who worked in mines
Labourers - people who had labour intensive jobs (E.g. builders, carpenters, road workers)
Ruins - a building that
Civilians - normal people, not soldiers
Evacuate - to leave
Occupied - stayed in
Labyrinth - a type of maze
Davlyn: In 1915 the men that volunteered had to dig tunnels under the enemy's trenches, and in some of the tunnels had explosives but they had to dig really deep. The men had to be good at their job, so if you got someone that did not know how to mine they, they will probably die but if you get a person that new how to mine they will not die and make better tunnels.
NZ tunnelling company
Extra resources:
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/specialist-units/tunnelling-company
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/tunnellers-mining-road
https://ww100.govt.nz/what-new-zealanders-left-behind-in-arras-france
Who was the Tunnelling Company?
People that dig underground to build or explode the enemy trench.
What were their jobs before the war?
Bushmen
Labours
Famers
Miner
What were the two things they did during WW1?
Underground caverns to hide soldiers or equipment
To make a small tunnel to put explosives near the enemy
After the tunnels weren’t useful anymore, these soldiers also built bridges to help out Allied soldiers.
Where were the men mostly from? Find these places on a map of NZ and draw arrows towards them.
from towns like Waihi or Reefton
What are “counter-mining operations”?
Counter mining is when a country explodes the other trench or tunnel.
Where did the names for the different parts of the tunnels come from?
Named after different cities in NZ - E.g. Christchurch, Auckland.
Why was it important that the men in the tunnelling company knew what they were doing? Why did they need to be experts?
So nothing worse can happen like, rocks falling. and they have to be experts so they know what they're doing.
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