WW1 Training Tunnels Discovered Under Salisbury Plain

A network of tunnels used to train soldiers during the First World War has been found on Salisbury Plain.

The underground passages were used to to simulate the conditions soldiers would face in real trenches in France and Belgium.

Builders were clearing an area in Larkhill, where hundreds of military homes are being built by the Ministry of Defence, when the discovery was made.

The site is being described as having "unprecedented archaeological significance".

Mr Si Clegget, who led the excavation, told The Guardian:

"These men were being trained for the real thing – using live grenades – we know that because we found over 200 grenades in the tunnel and 50 per cent of them proved to be still live."

Inside the trenches, some soldiers scratched their names on the walls, and two brothers included "Semper Fidelis" (Forever Faithful) in their signatures.

Grenades, ammunition, food tins, cigarettes and other training relics were also found.

The dig also uncovered a chalk plaque inscribed with the names of bombers from the Australian 3rd Division infantry, which trained on Salisbury Plain in 1916.

Archaeologists also discovered a wealth of prehistoric remains, including an enclosure older 600 years older than Stonehenge and 4,000-year-old burials.

As part of the Army Basing Plan, 4,300 soldiers and their families will move to Wiltshire from Germany and UK bases by 2019.