World War ITimeline

1916

10 March

Enlisted at the age of 29

2nd Reinforcements

1916

4 May

Trained

Narrow Neck, Auckland

1916

26 June

Transfer to England

HMNZT 56 Maunganui

1916

22 August

Marched in to NZ Sling Camp, Bulford

1916

22 September

Embarked for France

1916

23 September

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1916

16 November

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

1916

18 November

Marched in to Army Service Corps Transport Depot, Abbeville

1916

9 December

Admitted to hospital

1916

26 December

Marched in to Army Service Corps Transport Depot, Abbeville

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

1 June

Marched in to Army Service Corps Depot, Le Havre

1917

5 June

Marched in to Reinforcements Camp

1917

24 June

Transferred

No.2 Company NZ Divisional Train

How to cite this page

Anthony Byledbal, “World War I Timeline of Samuel Mathews“, New Zealand Tunnellers Website, NaN (2009), Accessed: . URL: www.nztunnellers.com/tunnellers/522/wwi-timeline