Soldiers of the Māori (Pioneer) Battalion take a break from trench improvement work near Gommecourt, France, in July 1918. The Māori pioneers served on the Western Front in France and Belgium from 1916 to 1918. They dug trenches, built roads and carried out other support tasks. Casualties remained heavy, as these jobs often placed soldiers in the firing line. During the First World War each infantry division included a pioneer battalion.
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association Collection
Reference:
1/2-013414-G
Photograph by Henry Armytage Sanders
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
Add new comment