Underground Soldiers – School Journal Level 4 June 2014

This article details the New Zealand Tunnelling Company’s efforts during the First World War. Arriving in Arras in 1916, these miners and laborers converted ancient quarries into a secret underground city for 25,000 troops, complete with a hospital and electric lighting. Using geophones to monitor enemy “counter mining,” they prepared a massive surprise attack for the 1917 Battle of Arras. Today, the “Wellington” cave serves as a museum to honor the fifty New Zealand tunnellers who died