 In addition , a number of specialist units were also raised , including three Australian tunnelling companies . Arriving on the Western Front in May 1916 they undertook mining and counter @-@ mining operations alongside British , Canadian and New Zealand companies , initially operating around Armentieres and at Fromelles . The following year they operated in the Ypres section . In November 1916 , the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company took over from the Canadians around Hill 60 , subsequently playing a key role in the Battle of Messines in June 1917 . During the German offensive in March 1918 the three companies served as infantry , and later supported the Allied advance being used to defuse booby traps and mines . The Australian Electrical Mining and Mechanical Boring Company supplied electric power to units in the British Second Army area . 
