The Western Front Tunnels
World Wars
•
17m
The creation of man-made underground tunnels played a huge role in the outcome of the First World War. They were first dug to mine under enemy positions and detonate bombs or attack in desperate and fierce fights. As the war dragged on, nevertheless, they developed another purpose: providing soldiers with safer accommodation and communication routes.
In this episode of Snow on the Road, Dan visits the tunnels of the Vimy Ridge built by Canadian miners and the Carrière Wellington tunnels, now a museum in Arras, France.
Up Next in World Wars
-
The Western Front
The Western Front, a 400-plus-mile stretch of land weaving through France and Belgium from the Swiss border to the North Sea, was the decisive front during World War One. Despite the global nature of the conflict, much of the world remembers the scars of the Great War through the lens of these ba...
-
History Under the Hammer: Lost Mark I...
Auctioneer Paul Laidlaw provides a tour of Laidlaw's Militaria collection in Carlisle, which is home to the only known surviving blueprint of the British Mark I Tank.
-
Living History: The Somme Battlefields
The Battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July 1916, is remembered as one of the bloodiest events of the First World War. On the first day of the offensive, one man was killed every 4.4 seconds, making it the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. There were over a million casua...