4/1617 - Sapper

Herbert

HARRISON

1st Reinforcements

Timeline


1915

1915

8 October

Enlistment

Auckland Military District

1915

11 October

Initial training

Avondale, Auckland

1915

18 December

Transfer to England

S.S. Ruapehu

1916

1916

3 February

Marched in to the Company Training Camp, Falmouth

1916

9 March

Embarked for France

1916

16 March

From the Front

The Company joined the underground warfare in the North of France

Chantecler, Sector of Arras

1916

11 November

Granted leave

1916

16 November

From the Front

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

1916

23 November

Rejoined the Company

1917

1917

9 April

Battle of Arras

British Offensive


From the Front

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

Arras-Cambrai Road

1917

15 April

Detached to Mine School

1917

22 April

Rejoined the Company

1917

5 May

From the Front

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

The Billets in Monchy

1917

2 June

Detached to Mine School

1917

8 June

Rejoined the Company

1917

6 July

Granted leave

1917

12 August

Rejoined the Company

1917

20 October

Detached to Rest Camp, Saint-Valery

1917

25 October

Awarded 25 days Field Punishment No.2 for drunkenness

1917

31 October

Rejoined the Company

1918

From the Front

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

The Workshop in Arras

1918

21 March

Spring Offensive

German Attacks


From the Front

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

1918

8 August

100 Days Offensive

Allied Attacks

1918

9 August

Admitted to hospital with an injury to the right knee

1918

12 August

Rejoined the Company

1918

13 August

Granted leave

1918

29 August

Admitted to hospital with displaced cartilage to the right knee

1918

20 September

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

Admitted to hospital with displaced cartilage to the right knee

1918

23 September

Embarked for England

Admitted to hospital

1918

27 September

From the Front

The Company experienced its newly reconversion in bridge construction

In front of the Havrincourt Bridge

1918

11 November

Armistice

Cessation of Hostilities


From the Front

The Company continued to build bridges to reconnect a fragmented territory

Over the Sambre River, Maubeuge

1918

6 December

Granted leave

1918

21 December

Marched in to NZ Depot, Codford

1919

1919

31 January

Granted leave to United Kingdom

1919

27 February

Marched in to NZ Expeditionary Force Headquarters, London

1919

12 March

Final discharge

End of Service Overseas

Decoration

British War Medal
British War Medal

Victory Medal
Victory Medal

Sources and bibliography

  • Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, AABK 18805 W5539 89/0051385, Military Personnel File: Herbert HARRISON - 4/1617.
  • Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Online Cenotaph He Toa Taumata Rau: Herbert HARRISON.
  • Nominal Roll of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 1915. New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company, Wellington, Government Printer, 1916, p. 8.

How to cite this page

Anthony BYLEDBAL, “Herbert HARRISON (4/1617)”, New Zealand Tunnellers, 2024 (2009). Accessed: 22 December 2024. URL: https://www.nztunnellers.com/roll/details.php?id=354