After two months in sea and an additional month in England for military training, the NZ Tunnellers arrived in France on 10th March 1916. The men discovered France for the first time. They moved directly to the front line and the war in the North of France. The underground war began.
James Williamson was an ex-miner and road maker from Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand. When the war broke out in 1914, he was 39 years old. He enlisted in september 1915 in the newly formed Tunnelling Company. He went in the training camp at Avondale near Auckland with about 400 men. On the 18th of December 1915, James Williamson embarked with his comrades for the long trip to Europe on bord the Ruapehu.
... the Ruapehu left Auckland & taken all of us out to sea starting on our great adventure.
Life on Board ship was very quiet but not monotonous, we have good sleeping quarters & the food was first class. In fact we travelled like passengers.
I was sea sick for 3 days but no troubled about & my mates where very good to me. After 3 days I was alright & entered into whatever was going on in the boat.
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Arriving at Plymouth February 3rd 1916, a lot of us landed in England for the first time. I was one of them. We stayed for a training month close to Pandennis Castle on a promotory between Falmouth & the sea.
We left Falmouth on March 8th... We arrived at Southampton early next morning... & left that night for Le Havre in France...
Arrived safely in Le Havre early in the morning, we were marched down to a railway station while waiting for the train... On the Sunday morning we arrived at a village named Tincques.
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When we arrived on the Sunday morning we were allowed to go into the Estaminet & we had quite a nice day drinking French beer... Tincques past out of our lives for ever.
We then moved to "Maroeuil" the march there seemed about 20 miles long but I don't suppose it was quite that...
The 51st division of Highlanders where holding that part of the line. It was what was know as the Labyrinth near the Vimy ridge.
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