A tour of the messines ridge the prologue with the. New zealands national commemorative service will be held at messines ridge british cemetery and will feature readings, waiata and the. New zealanders played a prominent role in this successful action but paid a heavy price. The highest ground north of the messineswytschaete ridge lies on the menin. This explosion was the biggest blast before atomic bombs. The battle of messines 714 june 1917 was an attack by the british second army general. The battle of messines was a battle which happened in the western front of the first world war. The eponymous crater created by a union mine at the outset of the battle of the crater, in petersburg, is also still visible. It contains the graves of 1500 men who fell in messines in 191718.
Battle of messines map nzhistory, new zealand history online. At the start of the battle of messines 714 june 1917 during the first world war, a series of. Spanbroekmolen was the largest of the mines which were blown at the start of the assault on messines ridge. When nineteen mines were detonated along a six mile front at the opening of the battle of messines on 7 june 1917, six more huge explosive charges totalling over 80 tons were left to lie dormant and forgotten deep beneath the. The map above shows the territory taken from the germans on 7 june 1917 during the battle of messines. Map showing positions of mines, objectives and troop movements in messines. Map of the ypres ieper salient, 1915 1917, showing the location. 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.
Map of the mines laid before the battle of messines, 1917. Download scientific diagram map of the ypres ieper salient, 1915 1917, showing the location of the wytschaetemessines mine craters, and the. But that was but a bloody nose compared to what came next. The battle of messines was fought in october 1914 between the armies of the german and british empires. New zealands national commemorative service will be held at messines ridge british cemetery and will feature readings. Get directions, maps, and traffic for messines, qc. Download government surveys airborne magnetics and radioelement data. The battle of messines was fought on june 7th 1917. On the contrary, it provided an authentic firsthand taste of what it must have been like for soldiers, fighting and trying to survive in the. Thank you for helping build the largest language community on the internet. The mines, secretly planted by british tunnelling units, created 19 large craters and are estimated to have. Each heavy artillery group headquarters divided their zones into map. In the second battle of ypres, which i have discussed briefly, the british army suffered roughly 62,000 casualties. Geological sections of the messines ridge mine craters, 1917.
The joint explosion of the mines in the battle of messines ranks among the largest nonnuclear explosions. The battle of the somme in 1916 or as soldiers called it, the great fuckup was a. Listen to the audio pronunciation of mines in the battle of messines 1917 on pronouncekiwi. 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. The standout features of the battle was the successful coordination of various parts of. 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. Launching a preplanned attack into the carnage, supported by tanks and a devastating artillery barrage, the british took the strategic objective of messines ridge within hours. Mining at messines ridge, belgium, world war i, 19141918. The battle of messines was launched on june 7, 1917 by british general herbert plumers second army. The blue area shows ground gained from the germans by the british under general sir herbert plumer, 714 june 1917. Map showing the attack plan of the ii anzac corps for the battle of messines.
It was just one of those questions that popped into my head. When the mines at messines were detonated on the 7th july 1917 at 3. Modern map of deulemont and vicinity commune fr insee code 59173. The attack was meant to capture a ridge which ran north from messines village, past wytschaete village. Mines in the battle of messines 1917 military wiki.
One of the craters from the 21 mines that were laid along the messines ridge on the western front in 1917. It was open on the site of the german positions, marked as oyster trench on the british trench maps. In total, about 10,000 german soldiers were killed or went missing in the messines ridge explosions alone. The battle for messines ridge history learning site. The battle of messines ridge cycling route 43 km takes you to all the locations where the allies detonated 19 deep mines on 7 june 1917 at 4. British engineers detonated 19 enormous mines buried deep below german positions along a ridge outside messines. The capture of messines ridge was a preliminary operation that took place just prior to the battle of passchendaele third battle of ypres. The attack began with the simultaneous detonation of 19 huge mines in shafts dug beneath the german lines. The battle began with the detonation of 19 mines beneath the german front.
Messines was an important success for the british army leading up to the beginning of the third battle of ypres several weeks later. It is a mile and a quarter northwest of messines, reached by taking the minor road off the n314 opposite messines ridge cemetery. After the debacle of arras, allied attention turned to haigs longawaited flanders offensive. At the start of the battle of messines 714 june 1917, a series of mines was detonated beneath german lines, creating 19 large craters. 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. British first world war trench maps, 19151918 national library of. The lost mines how was it that in 1955 a massive mine charge blew up in a belgian field. Battle of messines simple english wikipedia, the free. The british forces fought with the germans for about two years but to no avail. The day we visited messines ridge there was a howling gale and intermittent pouring rain. 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. The messines ridge new zealand memorial to the missing is situated within messines ridge british cemetery, which is located 9. Id not heard of liquefaction in terms of the messines ridge mines. In the fighting that followed, british, irish, australian and new zealand units recapture the.
If im reading the map of the messines attack correctly the attached photos show ontario farm. Terrain and the messines ridge, belgium, 19141918 springerlink. Miners used to have to make long trips to obtain the information they needed. Second lieutenant oswald gillotts last day on earth was june 7th 1917, coincidentally no doubt, the first day of the successful attack on the messines ridge. As many as 6,000 german troops perished in the inferno and the messines ridge was quickly taken by general sir herbert plumers second army. Map to illustrate the battle of messines, first world war, june 1917, c1920. Messines ridge new zealand memorial new zealand war. Before i go any further with messines ridge, id like to step back and take a look at the allied situation up to that point. The battle took place on the western front near the village of messines in west flanders, belgium.
In the summer of 1917 the british launched a major offensive to capture the messines ridge, a salient. If minview does not appear with the new features and data. Stretching the length of a high ridge, south of ypres, the german army held a heavily fortified line of defences against the british. The messines ridge memorial is a world war i memorial. The battle of messines nzhistory, new zealand history online. The target of the offensive was the messines ridge, a natural stronghold southeast of ypres, and a small german salient since late 1914. An analysis of consecutive trench maps for the messines ridge in belgium, from 19151918, was carried out as a pilot study to examine the role of gis as a historical tool for considering military operations.
Messines ridge british cemetery is a commonwealth war graves commission burial ground for the dead of the first world war. Map of the battle, depicting the front on 7 june and subsequent action until 14 june. Check flight prices and hotel availability for your visit. Is it to do with water content of the local geology. The assault was preceded by the detonation of nineteen large mines, in what was described at the time as the loudest explosion in human history. The battle of messines was a prelude to the much larger third battle of ypres, better known as passchendaele. Battle of messines, 714 june 1917, british victory during world war i. Admitted by the germans to be a masterstroke, the devastating blasts caused 10,000 soldiers to later be posted simply as missing. Now that the information is online, they can just download and print the map at their. Battle of messines basic railway map of ii anzac corps boundary. The western front today messines mine 1955 21 mines were laid in preparation for the apocalyptic start to the messines battle on 7 june 1917. Highexplosive mines placed under the german lines were used to devastating effect, and the blast from the explosions could be. From what i have been reading it seems that they were not used due to the position being overun and there was no need to fire them. Messines ridge wwi craters for 21 mines in messines.
At messines in belgium the summer of 1917, the british second army opened a longplanned attack. How to pronounce mines in the battle of messines 1917. It used only 8,000 pounds of black powder, a far cry from the 60k lb of ammonal in the lochnagar mine at the outset of the somme, or the almost 100k lb mines at messines, but still was enough to permanently reshape the landscape. In the summer of 1917 the british launched a major offensive to capture the messines ridge, a salient on the western front from which the germans had a commanding view over the britishheld ypres salient to the north. Transactions of the institute of mining and metallurgy 28, 189248. 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.
The claim that the germans had withdrawn from the messines ridge originates with the historian denis winter in a superficially scholarly but heavily flawed study of the command of. Esri helps kentucky deliver maps of abandoned mines online. Ulster and irish divisions fight side by side at messines. By that summer, the german army was completely ensconced in messines and had control of a large expanse of flat terrain that swept out from the high ridge of ypres. The mines were placed under german lines at messines. An analysis of consecutive trench maps for the messines ridge in belgium, from 19151918, was carried out as a pilot study to. The gigantic explosions destroyed the german positions and left enormous craters in the landscape. The final splutterings of the arras offensive had been diversionary in nature, fought to deflect attention from both. One of the central features of the battle that contributed to the successful operation was the detonation of 19 mines the battle of messines, 1917.
Go straight ahead at a crossroads and carry straight on ignoring a right turn immediately after the crossroads. Campus tour conference and event planning mines museum map and directions. Now the trenches were the siege defences, and the mining technology was scaled up to meet the new demands. One of the craters from the 21 mines that were laid along the messines ridge on the western. The ridge dominated the landscape, and from it, the germans controlled a wide sweep of flat country all around. There are over 50 unique map layers available and a host of information from. However a decision was taken to explode only 19 of the mines. The mines in the battle of messines comprised a series of mines built near the village of messines in belgian west flanders during the first world war. It has been argued that the battle of messines was the most successful local operation of the war, certainly of the western front.
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