The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
The northern entrance to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel, a famous section of the Hindenburg Defence System between Bellicourt and Vendhuilles. Barges, similar to those seen moored at the entrance, were used by the Germans to billet a number of men in the Tunnel, where they were safe from shellfire, but living in darkness under damp and noisy conditions. Much more accommodation was found in dugouts along the east side of the spoil bank over the canal. Some of these were elaborately fitted and had entrances concealed by houses many yards away as well as those from the tow path of the canal. The whole of this huge fortress was captured by American and Australian troops in the fighting between 29 September and 1 October 1918.
A concrete wall and machine gun emplacements at the Bellicourt entrance to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel, which formed a strong fortress in the main Hindenburg Line of Defence, photographed by flash lig
The Riqueval entrance to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel which extended for three and a half miles from Bellicourt to Vendhuille, photographed a month after its capture by Australian and American troops i
The Riqueval entrance to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel which ran for three and a half miles between Bellicourt and Vendhuille, and with the barges moored in it, was used by the enemy as a fortified barr
A view of the mound of earth raised by the 'spoil' from the St Quentin Canal Tunnel, where it passes under the village of Bellicourt. The bank was honeycombed with dugouts. The road which crosses it l
The entrance to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel at Riqueval near Bellicourt.
View of the St Quentin Canal, Tunnel in the Hindenburg Main Line, looking towards the Bellicourt entrance. The Tunnel formed one of the most strongly defended positions in the Hindenburg System.
