Tunnellers mining a road near Arras, 1918

As well as digging tunnels and caverns, the men of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company carried out various engineering and labouring tasks above ground. This photograph shows tunnellers laying mines in a road near Arras, France, on 17 July 1918. As this road crossed a stream, its destruction would hamper the German advance. Later in 1918, as the tide of the war turned in the Allies' favour, the tunnellers showed their versatility by building a series of temporary bridges.