The attack was also a precursor to the much larger third battle of ypres, known as passchendaele, decided upon by the british commanderinchief sir douglas haig following the collapse of the french nivelle offensive earlier in may 1917. Battle of messines map nzhistory, new zealand history online. The mines, secretly planted by british tunnelling units, created 19 large craters and. The big dig the team explore the underground war at messines and during the dig simon. Battle of messines history of world war i ww1 the great war history of the airplane over 10,000 airplane videos and growing.
Media in category battle of messines the following 110 files are in this category, out of 110 total. The battle of messines was fought over a nine mile front situated between ypres and armentieres. After the debacle of arras, allied attention turned to haigs longawaited flanders offensive. The charges of 20,000, 26,000, 32,000 and 34,000lbs, laid at between 65 and 80 feet depth, were designed to utterly destroy the birdcage.
The standout features of the battle was the successful coordination of various parts of. The 1917 battle of messines was preceded by 19 giant mine explosions and was the biggest military mining effort in history. Living warbirds is your largest aircraft and aviation resource. Until 1918, messines was the only clear cut allied victory on the western. Anniversary of the battle of messines 7 14 june 2017. On the day of the offensive, the corps aim was to capture the ruins of. By the end of the day, one of the strongest positions on the western front had fallen, a place of such importance that the germans had pledged to hold it at any cost. The battle of messines 714 june 1917 was an attack by the british second army. Map of the battle, depicting the front on 7 june and subsequent action until 14 june. Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
The battle of messines ridge june 1917 and beneath flanders fields. At 03h10 the newzealand forces go over the top and attack their objective. At the start of the battle of messines 714 june 1917 during the first world war, a series of underground explosive charges were detonated by the british army beneath german lines near the village of mesen messines in french, historically used in english, in belgian west flanders. On 7th june, the centenary of the start of the battle of messines ridge, an island of ireland commemoration, jointly led by the governments of ireland and the uk, in partnership with the mayor of messines, took place at 14. The battle of messines, june 1917 aerial photographs. This is the book of the respected movie of the same name beneath hill 60 click here to see or buy the dvd of this movie on 7th june 1917, nineteen massive mines exploded beneath messines ridge near ypres. During 1916 and early 1917 in belgium, a queensland miner captain oliver woodward played by brendan cowell undertrained and never having faced hostile fire before finds himself on the western front the. The battle of messines ridge june 1917 01 by ian passingham isbn. The abandoned mines at messines over 1 million tons of. To this must be taken into consideration that many of the german casualties were caused the massive and. The largest manmade explosion in history up until that point shattered the landscape and smashed open the german lines. The final splutterings of the arras offensive had been diversionary in nature, fought to deflect attention from both.
The battle for the messines ridge was an attempt by the allies to capture land to the southeast of ypres to gain control of the higher land in the ypres salient. Battle of messines ridge centenary commemoration public expressions of interest. Between 714 june 1917, the british second army under general sir herbert plumer planned an offensive to take the messines ridge to the south east of ypres. My grandads story and his role in the battle of messines ridge. Heres what happened in a minute by minute overview of that morning. The explosion was heard by lloyd george in downing street, and as far away as dublin. Battle of messines 1917 new zealanders capture messines. The battle of messines belgium on june 7, 1917, was one of the few clearcut allied victories of world war i and possibly the greatest example of thorough combat engineering in modern history. The battle for the possession of the villages of messines ridge, messines, wytchaete, st. At messines in belgium the summer of 1917, the british second army opened a longplanned attack. The ridge dominated the landscape, and from it, the germans controlled a wide sweep of flat country all around. The british, aiming to take the germans by surprise, deployed special tunnelling companies. The capture of messines ridge was a preliminary operation that took place just prior to the battle of passchendaele third battle of ypres.
Over 3,2 million men died in the battles fought in the western front during world war 1 and more than 8,4 million wounded soldiers lived to tell the tale of the first industrialscale killing machine, known as the great war. If this book wets your appetite for more information on messines, i heartily recommend passinghams pillars of fire. Authorizing plumer to move forward with an assault on the ridge, haig began to view the attack as a prelude to a much larger offensive in the ypres area. The map above shows the territory taken from the germans on 7 june 1917 during the battle of messines.
Beneath hill 60 is an australian feature film set underneath the trenches of world war one. Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography. Home battle of messines, battle of ypres, world war i. Furthermore, of this figure 7,200, according to british sources, were actually taken prisoner, reducing the number who were killed to 2,800. In front of the first cavalry corps, was a line of hills from mont des cats to mont kemmel, about 400 feet 120 m above.
Australian infantry fought near messines village, while to the north at hill 60 nearer to ypres australian tunnellers played a vital role in the detonation of some of a series of huge mines beneath the enemys trenches. The latter goes into great depth pun intended on the tunneling effort as well as modern archeology on some of the sites. Consequently, this is one of the few resources available which examines the momentous battle for the high ground held by the germans. Books the battle of messines, june 1917 aerial photographs description object description. The battle of messines ridge tends to be overshadowed by the third battle of ypres as it was a preliminary, but crucial operation leading up to the great battle in august. The plug street project the history of the battle of. The 1st and 2nd cavalry divisions under general allenby, covered the assembly of the iii corps at st.
A photographer captures the hellish battle of messines. From world war i and world war ii airplanes to the fastest fighter jets, youll find detailed aircraft information about ww1, ww2, and postwar airplanes. Messines became the first true allarms modern battle. The great war week by week 100 years later s4 e22 french mutinies tunnels under messines ridge i the great war week 149 duration. Australian infantry fought on the southern end of this line near messines village, while to the north at hill 60 near ypres australian tunnellers played a vital role in the detonation of part of a series of huge mines beneath the enemys trenches. The story follows will burrows, a 14yearold archaeologist, who stumbles upon an underground civilization called the colony. From march 1917 the new zealand division was stationed in the douve sector located at the bottom of the map, forming part of the british second armys ii anzac corps. Sappers dug the tunnels into a layer of blue clay 80120 ft 2437 m below the surface, then drifted galleries for 5,964 yd. The cavalry was ordered to extend as far north as ypres. Battle of messines ridge department of foreign affairs. The battle of messines was fought on june 7th 1917. It explores why the name of messines is not as familiar as the somme, passchendaele or verdun, and why general sir herbert plumer is not as widely known as field. The big dig the team explore the underground war at messines and during the dig simon verdegem.
Mine warfare international encyclopedia of the first. The big dig the team explore the underground war at messines and during the dig simon verdegem and his team of. The western front of 191418 is characterised by a continual series of bloody stalemates, but the battle of messines was a relatively rare example of a successful offensive. The front line forming a curve around the allied held city of ypres in at the northern edge of the sector, then sweeping in a reverse s, with. The battle for messines ridge history learning site. A meticulous planner, plumer had been preparing to take ridge for over a year and his engineers had dug twentyone mines under the german lines. It has been argued that the battle of messines was the most successful local operation of the war, certainly of the western front. The battle of messines explosion beneath hill 60 i the great war week 150. In 1995 he was knighted for services to british history and international relations, and in 1999 he was awarded a doctorate of literature by the university of oxford for the totality of his published work. The mines, secretly planted by british tunnelling units, created 19 large craters and are estimated to have. Omer and hazebrouck from 1012 october, to allow the iii corps to advance eastwards towards lille. Bound together with the second army offensive in flanders, july 31st to october 26th 1917 aerial photographs and includes loose panorama at end of volume.
Beneath hill 60 battle messines 1917 australian tunnelling. The battle of messines explosion beneath hill 60 i the. The messines ridge was directly southeast of the dreaded ypres sector. It was initially selfpublished as the highfield mole in 2005, and rereleased as tunnels by chicken house in 2007. If you want to buy some of the books we use or recommend during our show. Mine warfare was most famously used during the fighting on the somme in 1916, messines ridge in 1917, and at vauquois near verdun where tunnels, mines, and countermines were dug for much of the war. The attack was meant to capture a ridge which ran north from messines village, past wytschaete village. The figure of 10,000 missing is from the german official history which states that it covers a 21day period ending on 10 th june 1917. Eloi, took place in 191417, and the final battle for messines in 1918. The battle of messines was fought along a wide frontage. Battle of messines, 714 june 1917, british victory during world war i. Messines tunnellers and mines the australian war memorial.
It began on 7 june 1917 when the british second army, which was commanded by general herbert plumer, attacked near the village of mesen messines in west flanders, belgium. Martin gilbert, the author of more than seventy books, is winston churchills official biographer and a leading historian of the modern world. The battleground series war books have become very collectable. The battle of messines was a battle which happened in the western front of the first world war. Stretching the length of a high ridge, south of ypres, the german army held a heavily fortified line of defences against the british.
This book examines the battle for the messineswytschaete ridge from the british, anzac and german perspectives. This detailed account of the battle for the messineswytschaete ridge examines it from the britishanzac and german perspectives. With the return of more mobile warfare in 1918, the need for mine warfare correspondingly diminished. Media in category mines in the battle of messines 1917 the following 19 files are in this category, out of 19 total. Highexplosive mines placed under the german lines were used to devastating effect, and the blast from the explosions could be. The true story of my grandad and his role in the battle of messines r. The artillery fire was the most intense of the whole war, a fact which heightens the interest of the photograph, the text continued.
The target of the offensive was the messines ridge, a natural stronghold southeast of ypres, and a small german salient since late 1914. Tunnels is a subterranean fiction novel by british authors roderick gordon and brian williams. Carried out by general herbert plumers second army, it was launched on 7 june 1917 with the detonation of 19 underground mines underneath the german mines. So said general plumer the day before 600 tons of explosives were detonated under the german positions on messines ridge. Sappers digging a communication trench towards the messines ridge. The village of messines was heavily defended by the germans and the sizeable trench seen in the above image dating from early 1917 shows part of their defence network on the outskirts of the village in the next episode of ww1 tunnels of death. The battle of messines contents 1 introduction 3 1. Messines ridge had been in german hands since 1914 and in places the front line trenches had hardly moved. Battle of messines beneath hill 60 australian tunnellers.
1241 455 1472 304 108 1062 274 1101 664 948 1250 1158 1437 351 598 640 1522 291 1234 303 1139 359 171 905 311 10 377 241 1156 1035 132 274 1310 170 1474 312 580 167 675 1256 119