FRANCE: POTHOLERS EXIT TUNNEL AFTER TWO MONTHS UNDER GROUND EXPLORING TUNNELS AND CAVES

Record ID: 639810

  • Title: FRANCE: POTHOLERS EXIT TUNNEL AFTER TWO MONTHS UNDER GROUND EXPLORING TUNNELS AND CAVES
  • Date: 7th March 1996
  • Summary: ARRAS, FRANCE (MARCH 07) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV CROWD WAITING OUTSIDE PLASTERED UP TUNNEL EXIT 0.04 2. SV MEN INSIDE BEGINNING TO BREAK DOWN WALL WITH PICKAXE 0.10 3. SV/LV WALL BREAKING DOWN AND MEN EMERGING TO APPLAUSE (3 SHOTS) 0.29 4. SV POTHOLER JANNICK ROY (YELLOW SUIT) SAYING HIS TOP PRIORITIES WILL BE A GOOD SHOWER FRESH FOOD AND A GOOD REST (FRENCH) 0.43 5. SCU PASCAL BARRIER (RED SUIT) SAYING WE WERE THERE FOR PLEASURE BUT WE REMEMBERED ALL THOSE WHO CAME HERE TO DIE (FRENCH) 1.08 6. SV POTHOLERS EATING STRAWBERRIES 1.16 7. SV TUNNEL EXIT 1.23 8. SV POTHOLERS LEAVE 1.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ARRAS, FRANCE
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVADF220HJQJG2QELP1XB0IIQ95R
  • Story Text: Two Frenchmen emerged four days late on Thursday (March 7)from a two-month exploration of a warren of tunnels and caverns dating to the Middle Ages and said they were looking forward to a shower and a good meal.

    Living in a tent, with electricity fed from the town above, the potholers were contacted by emergency telephone on Monday for the first time since they went underground on January 4.

    But they said they needed more time to adjust to the idea of leaving their subterranean environment.

    "My top priorities, would be a good shower, fresh food and a good rest," Jannick Roy told reporters moments after emerging from the sealed mouth of the cave beneath the northern French town of Arras.

    "I discovered a lot, there were many thrills. But I am very happy to be reunited with my family," said Pascal Barrier, Roy's cave-dwelling colleague. "We were there for pleasure but we remembered all those who came here to die." The men had spent their time searching the maze of tunnels linking chalk quarries dating back to the Middle Ages, which were used during World War One by thousands of New Zealand, Australian, Canadian and British troops.

    The soldiers used the network, spread over six miles, to mount a surprise attack on German lines in 1917. Previous visits had turned up graffiti left by soldiers, weapons and empty cans of wartime rations.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register