A New Zealand sculpture has been unveiled in France to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Arras.

The stalemate cost the British 160,000 casualties and the Germans 125,000, but New Zealanders also played their part.

In the lead-up to the Battle of Arras, more than 400 Kiwis worked on a network of underground caverns and tunnels leading to the German line.

The 'Victory Medal' sculpture depicts 36 pairs of feet, representing 36 soldiers - a small platoon.

Thirty-five pairs are made from clay, and one pair have been cast in bronze.

"The bronze pair represents the recognised hero," says artist Helen Pollock, "but my point is they were all heroes."

The sculpture has toured New Zealand and and will now travel across France and Belgium, replicating the journey that Kiwi soldiers took in World War I.

"It came round New Zealand and was shown in all the different provinces. It went to Wellington as the troops did 100 years ago, it's been loaded onto a ship and it's crossed the seas. So I think that's quite beautiful."

Pollock's sculpture is being combined with another New Zealand artwork, 'The Poppy of Peace', which is made up of thousands of steel petals - with messages of remembrance from both France and New Zealand.

"Well, it will be double fabulous," says artist Tony McNeight, "because you'll have Helen's piece which is in a round, so that's going to be I guess the centre, or the heart of the poppy; and then you'll have the poppy with all the messages around the outside."

The joint artwork has taken a week to re-construct, and will be unveiled by the French President.

Like thousands of young New Zealanders who died on the Western Front, 'Victory Medal' will lie forever in Europe, taking up its final resting place at Le Quesnoy later this year.

Newshub.