honoured by French delegation visit to Rotorua
Twenty metres under the streets of the French town Arras, 24,000 World War I soldiers sheltered in a 19-kilometre network of tunnels and prepared for battle.
At their most complete, the tunnels had running water, electric lights, kitchens, a light rail system and a fully equipped hospital, thanks to the efforts of 43 members of the Māori Pioneer Battalion, who dug the tunnels alongside many others.
The battalion, and hundreds of soldiers from the New Zealand Tunnelling Company, spent years turning the 200-year-old abandoned quarry into a life-saving underground shelter, working in the dark with the constant threat of carbon monoxide poisoning and tunnel collapse.
To help tunnellers navigate underground, the caverns were given the names of New Zealand cities: Wellington, New Plymouth, Christchurch and Dunedin. The soldiers also carved names and messages into the tunnel walls that can still be read by visitors.
Link to video and article: World War I Māori Pioneer Battalion honoured by French delegation visit to Rotorua - NZ Herald
