World War ITimeline

1915

21 September

Enlisted at the age of 31

Main Body

1915

11 October

Trained

Avondale, Auckland

1915

27 November

Promoted Sergeant

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

16 June

Rejoined the Company from leave

1916

21 August

Detached to Mine School

1916

1 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

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

9 December

Detached to Gas School

1917

15 December

Rejoined the Company

Nominated for training in a cadet unit

1917

21 December

Detached on command to NZ Expeditionary Force Headquarters, London

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

4 January

Detached to No.2 Officers Cadet Battalion, Cambridge

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

30 May

Transferred

NZ Rifle Brigade

How to cite this page

Anthony Byledbal, “World War I Timeline of Ernest Richardson“, New Zealand Tunnellers Website, NaN (2009), Accessed: . URL: www.nztunnellers.com/tunnellers/720/wwi-timeline