|
LATEST UPDATE
ANZAC Day 2012  As part of the 2012 National ANZAC Day Commemorative Service held in Wellington the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. John Key read a letter from Tunnelling Company Sapper J.E. MacManus to the widow of Sergeant Sam Vernon. Click here to watch the video. TV3 ANZAC Day feature on Waihi and NZETC Descendant Jeff Tobin writes after visiting the grave of his Great Uncle Sapper Michael Tobin, the first NZEF enlistment to die on the Westren Front. La Compagnie des Tunneliers Neo-Zealandais a Arras A very brief story in French of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company, plus details of what we are planning to remember these men. Click here for more Despatches September 2011 Read our newsletter on line. Click here |
The New Zealand Tunnelling Company: First On, Last Off.
By October 1918 the New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company Main Body and reinforcements numbered 1308 men. The tunnellers were the first New Zealanders on the Western Front, arriving in France at midnight 9 March 1916. They were the last unit back home in April 1919. Apart from the Pioneer Battalion they were the only men who would return to New Zealand as a complete unit, and they returned after the Pioneers. Their ship the Ionic dropped anchor in Auckland Harbour at 9.00pm on April 23 and the Tunnellers disembarked on April 24, 1919.
Most of the tunnellers were quarrymen, miners from the Hauraki Goldfields, or labourers from the Railways and Public Works Departments. Others were coal miners from the West Coast. Waihi would supply the second largest group of men to enlist, with only Auckland providing more. The officers were drawn chiefly from the engineering staff of the Public Works Department, with a sprinkling of mining engineers.
During their period overseas they engaged in an underground war of countermining and secrecy. In preparation for the 1917 Battle of Arras New Zealand tunnellers created an extensive system of underground tunnels. Maori and Pacific Islanders of the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion joined the tunnellers for a short time. Infantrymen from the New Zealand Division also helped out. In 1918 the Kiwi tunnellers turned to bridge building. They constructed the longest self supporting bridge erected during World War One.
Tunnelling Company descendants and others have formed a committee to work towards attending World War One centennial commemorations.
Persons interested in joining a Tunnelling Company group travelling to the Western Front for 2017 centennial commemorations in Arras should contact Sue Baker Wilson:
NZETC
P. O. Box 333
Katikati 3166
2017@nzetc.co.nz