Timeline of Stewart Dixon McIver - New Zealand Tunnellers

1917

12 April

Enlisted at the age of 33

5th Reinforcements

Trained

Narrow Neck, Auckland

1917

26 April

Transfer to England

HMNZT 84 Turakina

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

20 July

Marched in to NZ Depot, Christchurch

1917

7 August

Awarded 14 days confinement to barracks and forfeited 1 day pay by Royal Warrant for breaking out of camp and absence without leave

1917

11 August

Embarked for France

1917

14 August

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

Detached to Segregation Camp

1917

21 August

Admitted to hospital with dysentery

1917

7 September

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1917

20 September

Joined the Company

1917

8 December

Admitted to hospital with pyrexia of unknown origin

1917

11 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

10 January

Admitted to hospital with pyrexia of unknown origin

1918

13 January

Rejoined the Company

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

15 April

Admitted to hospital with epididymitis

1918

16 May

Sentenced to 4 months Imprisonment with Hard Labour and to forfait pay until his share (50 francs) of the damage was made good for entering the Villa Reay, Cayeux, and doing damage there to the amount of 500 francs, and being in possession of a stolen barrel of beer

1918

4 June

Admitted to No.2 Military Prison, Rouen

1918

8 August

Allied Attacks

Hundred Days Offensive

1918

15 September

Released from prison

1918

18 September

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

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

29 September

Granted leave to the United Kingdom

1918

16 October

Forfeited 1 day pay and 1 day pay by Royal Warrant for overstaying leave

1918

18 October

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1918

6 November

Rejoined the Company

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

26 November

Admitted to hospital

1918

27 November

Diagnosed with orchitis

1918

3 December

Embarked for England

Admitted to hospital

1918

20 December

Granted leave

1919

4 January

Marched in to NZ Depot, Codford

1919

6 February

Marched in to NZ Depot, Torquay

1919

26 June

Awarded 21 days detention and forfeited 21 days pay for absence without leave

1919

14 August

Transfer to New Zealand

Troopship Adolph Woermann

1919

30 October

End of Service

Demobilization

How to cite this page

Anthony Byledbal, “World War I Timeline of Stewart Dixon McIver“, New Zealand Tunnellers Website, 2026 (2009), Accessed: 16 January 2026. URL: www.nztunnellers.com/tunnellers/548/wwi-timeline

World War ITimeline

1917

1918

1919

How to cite this page