World War ITimeline

1915

13 July

Enlisted at the age of 23

Main Body

1915

11 October

Trained

Avondale, Auckland

1915

18 December

Transfer to England

Steamship Ruapehu

1916

3 February

Marched in to the Company Training Camp, Falmouth

1916

9 March

Embarked for France

1916

16 March

Three officers of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company seated and posing in a trench during World War I, wearing military uniforms and helmet.

The Company joined the underground warfare in the North of France

1916

10 April

Admitted to hospital with bronchial catarrh

1916

23 April

Rejoined the Company

1916

2 July

Promoted 2nd Lieutenant

1916

30 August

Granted leave

1916

8 September

Rejoined the Company

1916

1 November

Granted leave

1916

16 November

Rejoined the Company

Two New Zealand Tunnellers working underground during World War I; one man shovels rubble while the other digs into the chalk tunnel wall.

The Company began the operations to connect old underground quarries in Arras in order to accommodate thousands of soldiers for an upcoming battle

1917

11 February

Promoted Lieutenant

1917

8 March

Detached to Mine School

1917

18 March

Rejoined the Company

1917

9 April

British Offensive

Battle of Arras

Soldiers marching along a road carrying shovels, heading toward a section of the road that requires repair during World War I.

The Company was employed to rebuild a major road leading to the Front during the battle

1917

5 May

A group of New Zealand Tunnellers posing inside their billet in an underground quarry near the front line; four of them are playing cards while others look on.

The Company moved to Monchy, ten kilometres east of Arras, to work on the fortification of the new front line

1917

11 June

Admitted to hospital with mumps

1917

13 July

Rejoined the Company

1917

16 July

Granted leave

1917

27 July

Rejoined the Company

1917

12 September

Detached on command to VIIth Corps

1917

16 October

Rejoined the Company

1917

29 November

Granted leave

1917

16 December

Rejoined the Company

1918

1 January

Overview of the sawmill built and operated by the New Zealand Tunnellers, located alongside a railway line, with stacks of timber and workers visible.

The Company was still carrying out the digging of underground premises and defences on the Front near Arras

1918

15 March

Granted leave

1918

21 March

German Attacks

Spring Offensive

Two soldiers standing outside the entrance of a shaft in a desolate area of the front line, surrounded by barren ground and war-damaged terrain.

The Company was engaged in the defence of Arras by digging new trenches and dug-outs under constant enemy shellfire

1918

16 April

Rejoined the Company

1918

26 May

Detached on command to NZ Division

1918

1 July

Rejoined the Company

1918

8 August

Allied Attacks

Hundred Days Offensive

1918

27 September

Officers of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company posing in front of a newly completed military bridge built by their men during World War I.

The Company experienced its newly reconversion in bridge construction

1918

14 October

Granted leave to the United Kingdom

1918

15 October

Placed on preference list to return to New Zealand

Marched in to NZ Depot, Torquay

1918

11 November

Cessation of Hostilities

Armistice

Military bridge built by the New Zealand Tunnellers spanning a river in the town of Cambrai; surrounding houses are a mix of intact structures and war-damaged ruins.

The Company continued to build bridges to reconnect a fragmented territory

1918

2 December

Transfer to New Zealand

Troopship Maunganui

1919

6 February

End of Service

Demobilization

How to cite this page

Anthony Byledbal, “World War I Timeline of Alfred Thurlow Leeds“, New Zealand Tunnellers Website, NaN (2009), Accessed: . URL: www.nztunnellers.com/tunnellers/481/wwi-timeline