Journey to Arras

This documentary unearths the story of the soldiers in the New Zealand Tunneling Company, whose daring World War I raids involved digging tunnels through chalk rock, laying explosives underneath enemy lines, and countermining German tunneling efforts. The story is told through the eyes of a New Zealand woman who retraces her grandfather’s war story to Arras, France, and sees the Kiwi-tagged cavern 'city' nearly 80 years later. The company played a key role on the Western Front, and was especially recruited in NZ, made up of miners, bushmen and labourers.

Men were used to hard work and long hours of back-breaking toil. Coal mines powered the railways and fueled the cities. The men working in these essential industries had just the experience the tunneling company was looking for.

– From the narration, on the suitability of colonial workers for tunnneling

Key Cast & Crew

Ann Andrews

Producer

George Andrews

Producer, Director

Stuart Devenie

Narrator

Phillipe Grau

Camera

Chris Burt

Sound

Stephen McCurdy

Composer