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Tunnellers/Peter Matthews

World War ITimeline

1915

1915
23 September

Enlisted at the age of 31

1st Reinforcements
1915
11 October

Trained

Avondale, Auckland
1915
18 December

Transfer to England

Steamship Ruapehu

1916

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
20 September

Granted leave

1916
29 September

Rejoined the Company

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

1917

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
26 September

Detached to Rest Camp, Saint-Valery

1917
9 October

Rejoined the Company

1918

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
14 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
4 April

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
5 October

Embarked for England on duty furlough

1918
7 October

Marched in to NZ Depot, Boscombe

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

1919

1919
1 February

Transfer to New Zealand

Troopship Hororata
1919
13 April

End of Service

Demobilization

How to cite this page

Anthony Byledbal, “World War I Timeline of Peter Matthews“, New Zealand Tunnellers Website, 2026 (2009), Accessed: 16 January 2026. URL: www.nztunnellers.com/tunnellers/523/wwi-timeline

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