World War ITimeline

1916

7 November

Enlisted at the age of 27

3rd Reinforcements

Trained

Narrow Neck, Auckland

1916

15 November

Transfer to England

HMNZT 69 Tahiti

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

25 November

Appointed Acting Lance Corporal

1917

29 January

Marched in to NZ Depot, Boscombe

1917

30 January

Reverted to Sapper

1917

2 March

Embarked for France

1917

4 March

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1917

4 April

Admitted to hospital

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

14 April

Embarked for England

Admitted to hospital with bronchitis

1917

2 May

Granted leave

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

18 May

Marched in to NZ Depot, Boscombe

1917

22 June

Transferred

NZ Engineers

How to cite this page

Anthony Byledbal, “World War I Timeline of Bertram Gisborne Smith“, New Zealand Tunnellers Website, NaN (2009), Accessed: . URL: www.nztunnellers.com/tunnellers/780/wwi-timeline