Vimy Ridge Memorial Tour

Stop #3 - Railway Tunnel

LOW RES. HIGH RES.

People often ask what happened to all the chalk that was removed from the tunnels and if the Germans knew what was going on.

As digging progressed, wooden rails were laid in the tunnel and spoil was removed in mine carts which were pushed by hand. At the entrance and at night it was loaded into horse-drawn wagons which, in the case of the Grange Subway, was removed to one of the old quarries near the entrance.

The Germans certainly knew that an attack was coming, but they knew neither the time of the attack, the extent of the tunnels, nor the number of troops which the tunnels concealed.