Mariah @ Tamaki Primary School: page 32

THE TUNNELLERS FROM NEW ZEALAND
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

Mariah:Some group of

soldiers had one job it was

to make many tanall and fams too. In

December 1915, after basic military

training in Auckland, more than four

hundred men as part of the NZ

Tunnelling company left for the

Western Front.Their job was to

build tunnels near the French

town of Arras.