Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)

Map of the mines laid before the Battle of Messines, 1917

The Mines in the Battle of Messines comprised a series of underground explosive charges which were fired during the First World War at the start of the Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer) near the village of Mesen (Messines in French, historically also used in English and German) in Belgian West Flanders. The mines, secretly planted and maintained by British tunnelling units beneath the forward position of the German 4th Army (General Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin), killed approximately 10,000 German soldiers and created 19 large craters. Their joint explosion ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time.

The evening before the attack, General Sir Charles Harington, Chief of Staff of the Second Army, remarked to the press, "Gentlemen, I don’t know whether we are going to make history tomorrow, but at any rate we shall change geography". The Battle of Messines marked the zenith of mine warfare. Just over two months later, on 10 August 1917, the Royal Engineers fired the last British deep mine of the war, at Givenchy-en-Gohelle near Arras.

Background

British mining, 1915–1916

Example of a mine gallery with timber roof support

As part of Allied operations in the Ypres Salient, British mining against the German-held salient at Wijtschate (Wytchaete or Whitesheet to the British) near Messines had begun in early 1915, with diggings 4.6–6.1 m (15–20 ft) below the surface. The concept of a deep mining offensive was devised in September 1915 by the Engineer-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), Brigadier George Fowke, who proposed to drive galleries 18–27 m (60–90 ft) underground. Fowke had been inspired by the thinking of Major John Norton-Griffiths, a civil engineer, who had helped form the first tunnelling companies and introduced the quiet clay kicking technique.

In September, Fowke proposed to dig under the Ploegsteert–Messines (Mesen), Kemmel–Wytschaete (Wijtschate) and Vierstraat–Wytschaete roads and to dig two tunnels between the Douve river and the south-east end of Plugstreet (Ploegsteert) Wood, the objectives to be reached in three to six months. Fowke had wanted galleries about 960 m (1,050 yd) long, as far as Grand Bois and Bon Fermier Cabaret on the fringe of Messines but the longest tunnel was a 660 m (720 yd) gallery to Kruisstraat. The scheme devised by Fowke was formally approved on 6 January 1916, although Fowke and his deputy, Colonel R. N. Harvey, had already begun the preliminaries. By January, several deep mine shafts, marked as "deep wells" and six tunnels had been started. Sub-surface conditions were especially complex and separate ground water tables made mining difficult. To overcome the technical difficulties, two military geologists assisted the miners from March, including Edgeworth David, who planned the system of mines.

Spanbroekmolen crater ("Lone Tree Crater" or "Pool of Peace") on one of the highest points of the Messines Ridge, in November 2009.

Co-ordinated by the Royal Engineers, the mine galleries were dug by the British 171st, 175th and 250th Tunnelling companies and the 1st Canadian, 3rd Canadian and 1st Australian Tunnelling companies, while the British 183rd, 2nd Canadian and 2nd Australian Tunnelling companies built dugouts (underground shelters) in the Second Army area. Sappers dug the tunnels into a layer of blue clay 24–37 m (80–120 ft) below the surface, then drifted galleries (horizontal passages) for 5,453 m (5,964 yd) to points beneath the position of the German Gruppe Wijtschate, despite German counter-mining. German tunnellers came within metres of several British mine chambers and, well before the Battle of Messines, found La Petite Douve Farm mine. On 27 August, the Germans set a camouflet, which killed four men and wrecked the gallery for 120 m (400 ft); the mine had been charged and the explosives were left in the chamber. A gallery of the Kruisstraat mine, begun on 2 January, had been dug for 690 m (750 yd) and was flooded by a camouflet explosion in February 1917, after which a new chamber was dug and charged next to the flooded mine. The British diverted the attention of German miners from their deepest galleries by making many minor attacks in the upper levels.

Prelude

British mining, 1917

Geological sections of the Messines Ridge mine craters, 1917

The BEF miners eventually completed a line of deep mines under Messines Ridge that were charged with 454 t (447 long tons) of ammonal and gun cotton. Two mines were laid at Hill 60 on the northern flank, one at St Eloi, three at Hollandscheschur Farm, two at Petit Bois, single mines at Maedelstede Farm, Peckham House and Spanbroekmolen, four at Kruisstraat, one at Ontario Farm and two each at Trenches 127 and 122 on the southern flank. A group of four mines was placed under the German strongpoint Birdcage at Le Pelerin, just outside Ploegsteert Wood. The large mines were at St Eloi, charged with 43,400 kg (95,600 lb) of ammonal, at Maedelstede Farm, which was charged with 43,000 kg (94,000 lb), and Spanbroekmolen on one of the highest points of the Messines Ridge, which was filled with 41,000 kg (91,000 lb) of ammonal. The mine at Spanbroekmolen was set 27 m (88 ft) below ground, at the end of a gallery 520 m (1,710 ft) long.

Geology of the British deep mine at Ontario Farm

When detonated on 7 June 1917, the blast of the mine at Spanbroekmolen formed the "Lone Tree Crater" with a diameter of 76 m (250 ft) and a depth of 12 m (40 ft).) The mine at Ontario Farm did not produce a crater but left a shallow indentation in the soft clay, after wet sand flowed back into the crater. Birdcage 1–4 on the extreme southern flank in the II Anzac Corps area, were not required because the Germans made a local retirement before 7 June. Peckham 2 was abandoned due to a tunnel collapse and the mine at La Petite Douve Farm was abandoned after the German camouflet blast of 27/28 August 1916. The evening before the attack, Harington, the Second Army Chief of Staff, remarked to the press, "Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography".

German mining, 1916–1917

Plan for the British deep mines at Hollandscheschur Farm with German counter-mining efforts clearly visible

In December 1916, Oberstleutnant Füßlein, commander of German mining operations in the salient, had recorded that British deep mining was intended to support an offensive above ground and received three more mining companies, to fight in the British lower as well as the upper mine systems and had gained some success. In April 1917, the 4th Army (General Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin) received information from air reconnaissance that a British offensive was being prepared in the Messines Ridge sector, and a spy reported to OHL that if the offensive at Arras was frustrated, the British would transfer their effort to Flanders. Hermann von Kuhl, the Chief of Staff of Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht (Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht), suggested that the salient around Messines Ridge be abandoned, since it could be attacked from three sides and most of the defences were on forward slopes, vulnerable to concentric, observed artillery-fire. A voluntary retirement would avoid the calamity experienced by the defenders at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on 9 April.

Kuhl proposed a retirement to the Sehnen Line (Oosttaverne Line to the British), halfway back from the Second Line along the ridge or all the way back to the Third Line (Warneton Line). At a conference with 4th Army commanders to discuss the defence of Messines Ridge on 30 April, most of them rejected the suggestion, because they considered that the defences had been modernised, were favourable for a mobile defence and convenient for counter-attacks. The artillery commander of Gruppe Wijtschate said that the German guns were well-organised and could overcome British artillery. The divisional commanders were encouraged by a report by Füßlein on 28 April, that the counter-mining had been such a success, particularly recently that

A subterranean attack by mine-explosions on a large scale beneath the front line to precede an infantry assault against the Messines Ridge was no longer possible. (nicht mehr möglich)

— Füßlein

For this and other reasons the withdrawal proposal was dropped as impractical (nicht vertünlich). Soon after the conference, Füßlein changed his mind and on 10 May, reported to the 4th Army his suspicions that the British might have prepared several deep mines, including ones at Hill 60, Caterpillar, St Eloi, Spanbroekmolen and Kruisstraat and predicted that if an above-ground offensive began, there would be big mine explosions in the vicinity of the German front line.

On 19 May, the 4th Army concluded that the greater volume of British artillery fire was retaliation for the increase in German bombardments and although defensive preparations were to continue, no attack was considered imminent. On 24 May, Füßlein was more optimistic about German defensive measures and Laffert wrote later, that the possibility of mine explosions was thought remote and if encountered they would have only local effect, as the front trench system was lightly held. From 12 May, weekly reports by the 4th Army made no mention of mining and Rupprecht made no reference to it after the end of the month. Other officers like Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant-Colonel) Wetzell and Oberst (Colonel) Fritz von Lossberg, wrote to OHL warning of the mine danger and the importance of forestalling it by a retirement; they were told that it was a matter for the commanders on the spot.

Battle: 7 June 1917

The British artillery fire lifted half an hour before dawn and as they waited in the silence for the offensive to begin, some of the troops reportedly heard a nightingale singing. Starting from 3:17 a.m.[citation needed] on 7 June, the mines at Messines were fired within the space of 20 seconds. The joint explosion ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions, surpassing the mines on the first day of the Somme fired 11 months before. The sound of the blast was considered the loudest man-made noise in history. Reports suggested that the sound was heard in London and Dublin; at the Lille University geology department, the shock wave was mistaken for an earthquake. Some witnesses described "pillars of fire", although many also conceded that the scene was indescribable.

Suddenly at dawn, as a signal for all of our guns to open fire, there rose out of the dark ridge of Messines and "Whitesheet" and that ill-famed Hill 60, enormous volumes of scarlet flame [...] throwing up high towers of earth and smoke all lighted by the flame, spilling over into fountains of fierce colour, so that many of our soldiers waiting for the assault were thrown to the ground. The German troops were stunned, dazed and horror-stricken if they were not killed outright. Many of them lay dead in the great craters opened by the mines.

That the detonations were not simultaneous enhanced their effect on the German troops. Strange acoustic effects also added to the panic – German troops on Hill 60 thought that the Kruisstraat and Spanbroekmolen mines were under Messines village, which was well behind the front line, while some British troops thought that they were German counter-mines going off under the British support trenches. The combined explosion is considered to have killed more people than any other non-nuclear man-made explosion in history; it killed approximately 10,000 German soldiers between Ypres and Ploegsteert. The historian Simon Jones challenged the death toll of the mines using primary sources and suggested that the mine explosions killed hundreds of German troops and that the 10,000 was the 21-day casualty total ending on 10 June, 7,200 of whom were captured by the British, recorded in Der Weltkrieg, the German official history, mistakenly taken by British writers to be the result of the mine explosions.

Aftermath

German trench destroyed by the explosion of a mine in the Battle of Messines. Approximately 10,000 German troops were killed when the mines were simultaneously detonated at 3.10 a.m. on 7 June 1917.

Two days after the battle, the Gruppe Wijtschate commander General Maximilian von Laffert was sacked. (He died of a heart attack eleven days later.) The German official history, Der Weltkrieg (volume XII, 1939), placed the mines, which were unprecedented in size and number, second in a list of five reasons for the German defeat. In an after-action report, Laffert wrote that had the extent of the mine danger been suspected, a withdrawal from the front trench system to the Sonne Line, half-way between the first and second positions, would have been ordered before the attack, since the cost inflicted on the British by having to fight for the ridge justified its retention. In 1929, Hermann von Kuhl lamented the failure to overrule the 4th Army commanders on 30 April and prevent "one of the worst tragedies of the war".

The Battle of Messines was regarded as the most successful local operation of the war but it left a legacy: six mines were not used. Four on the extreme southern flank were not required because the ridge fell so quickly, and another, a 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) mine codenamed Peckham, was abandoned before the attack due to a tunnel collapse. The sixth, and one of the biggest, was planted under a ruined farm called La Petite Douve. It was lost when the Germans mounted a counter-mining attack, and never used. After the war, La Petite Douve was rebuilt by its owners, the Mahieu family, and later renamed La Basse Cour. The mine is beneath a barn, next to the farmhouse.

— Neil Tweedie

List of the mines

British mines, Messines Ridge, June 1917
No. Name /
Location
Position Explosive
charge
Tunnel
length
Depth Constructed Result Notes and images
(May be under first row of each group of mines)
1 Hill 60 (or Hill 60 A) 50°49′26″N 2°55′44″E / 50.82389°N 2.92889°E / 50.82389; 2.92889 24,300 kg (53,500 lb) 354 m 30 m 22 August 1915 – 1 August 1916 Fired Shared gallery with Caterpillar, started in mid-1915 as one of the first allied mines at Ypres and known as Berlin Tunnel. By June 1917, the mine consisted of a main gallery leading to two separate mine chambers (Hill 60 A and Hill 60 B). See note:


Plan: [1];

2 Caterpillar (or Hill 60 B) 50°49′20″N 2°55′43″E / 50.82222°N 2.92861°E / 50.82222; 2.92861 32,000 kg (70,000 lb) 427 m 33 m 22 August 1915 – 18 October 1916 Fired Views: photo
3 St Eloi 50°48′32″N 2°53′31″E / 50.80889°N 2.89194°E / 50.80889; 2.89194 43,400 kg (95,600 lb) 408 m 42 m 16 August 1915  – 11 June 1916 Fired Largest detonation during the Battle of Messines. The deep mine crater is located next to double crater from 1916.

See note:
Plan: [2]; Views: aerial view of all 3 craters at St Eloi

4 Hollandscheschur Farm 1 50°47′50″N 2°52′10″E / 50.79722°N 2.86944°E / 50.79722; 2.86944 15,500 kg (34,200 lb) 251 m 20 m 18 December 1915  – 20 June 1916 Fired The mine consisted of three chambers (Hollandscheschur Farm 1–3) with a shared gallery. It was placed around the German strongpoint Günther between Wijtschate and Voormezele, not far from the Bayernwald trenches in Croonaert Wood. See note:


Plan: [3]; Views: aerial view 1, aerial view 2

5 Hollandscheschur Farm 2 50°47′49″N 2°52′04″E / 50.79694°N 2.86778°E / 50.79694; 2.86778 6,800 kg (14,900 lb) 137 m 18 m 18 December 1915 – 11 July 1916 Fired
6 Hollandscheschur Farm 3 50°47′53″N 2°52′05″E / 50.79806°N 2.86806°E / 50.79806; 2.86806 7,900 kg (17,500 lb) 244 m 18 m 18 December 1915 – 20 August 1916 Fired
7 Petit Bois 1 50°47′18″N 2°51′56″E / 50.78833°N 2.86556°E / 50.78833; 2.86556 14,000 kg (30,000 lb) 616 m 19 m 16 December 1915  – 30 July 1916 Fired The mine consisted of two chambers (Petit Bois 1 and 2) with a shared gallery. It was placed west of Wijtschate. See note:


Plan: [4];

8 Petit Bois 2 50°47′22″N 2°51′56″E / 50.78944°N 2.86556°E / 50.78944; 2.86556 14,000 kg (30,000 lb) 631 m 23 m 16 December 1915 – 15 August 1916 Fired
9 Maedelstede Farm 50°46′59″N 2°51′57″E / 50.78306°N 2.86583°E / 50.78306; 2.86583 43,000 kg (94,000 lb) 518 m 33 m 3 September 1916  – 2 June 1917 Fired Two chambers (Wytschaete Wood and Maedelstede Farm) were planned, but lack of time prevented the former from being finished and all effort was concentrated the latter. It was placed west of Wijtschate. See note:


Plan: [5]; Views: aerial view Archived 2015-02-16 at the Wayback Machine

10 Peckham 1 50°46′47″N 2°51′50″E / 50.77972°N 2.86389°E / 50.77972; 2.86389 39,000 kg (87,000 lb) 349 m 23 m 20 December 1915  – 19 June 1916 Fired The mine consisted of two chambers (Peckham 1 and 2) with a shared gallery. Peckham 1 was detonated during the battle. Peckham 2 was placed under a farm building but abandoned after the tunnel flooded. See note:


Plan: [6]; Views: photo

11 Peckham 2 50°46′52″N 2°51′56″E / 50.78111°N 2.86556°E / 50.78111; 2.86556 9,100 kg (20,000 lb) 122 m 23 m 20 December 1915 – December 1916 Abandoned
12 Spanbroekmolen (or Lone Tree Crater, Pool of Peace) 50°46′33″N 2°51′42″E / 50.77583°N 2.86167°E / 50.77583; 2.86167 41,000 kg (91,000 lb) 521 m 29 m 1 January 1916 – 26 June 1916 Fired Discovered by German troops in February 1917, later reclaimed and fired in the Battle of Messines. The crater was acquired in 1929 by the Toc H foundation in Poperinge, today recognised as a peace memorial. See note:


Plan: [7]; Views: photo

13 Kruisstraat 1 50°46′16″N 2°51′54″E / 50.77111°N 2.86500°E / 50.77111; 2.86500 14,000 kg (30,000 lb) 492 m 19 m 2 January 1916  – 5 July 1916 Fired Building preparations for a two-chamber mine started in December 1915. Kruisstraat 1 was placed at the end of a 492 m (538 yd) long gallery, Kruisstraat 2 some 50 m (55 yd) to its right. Kruisstraat 3 was added two months later and Kruisstraat 4 in 1917. Two craters remain, which seem to have been caused by the first and second charges. Kruisstraat 1 and 4 shared a gallery and were fired together. See note:


Plan: [8]; Views of the double crater: photo 1 Archived 2015-02-17 at the Wayback Machine, photo 2, photo 3

14 Kruisstraat 2 50°46′14″N 2°51′52″E / 50.77056°N 2.86444°E / 50.77056; 2.86444 14,000 kg (30,000 lb) 451 m 21 m 2 January 1916  – 23 August 1916 Fired
15 Kruisstraat 3 50°46′21″N 2°52′2″E / 50.77250°N 2.86722°E / 50.77250; 2.86722 14,000 kg (30,000 lb) 658 m 17 m 2 January 1916  – 23 August 1916 Fired Kruisstraat 3 had the longest gallery of the mines at Messines.
16 Kruisstraat 4 50°46′16″N 2°51′54″E / 50.77111°N 2.86500°E / 50.77111; 2.86500 8,800 kg (19,500 lb) 492 m 19 m February 1917 – 9 May 1917 Fired
17 Ontario Farm 50°45′50.4″N 2°52′36.9″E / 50.764000°N 2.876917°E / 50.764000; 2.876917 27,000 kg (60,000 lb) 392 m 34 m 28 January 1917  – 6 June 1917 Fired The mine did not produce a crater but left a shallow indentation in the soft clay; the shock wave did great damage to the German position. It was placed west of Mesen (Messines). See note:


Plans: [9] [10];

18 La Petite Douve Farm 50°45′20.6″N 2°53′36.9″E / 50.755722°N 2.893583°E / 50.755722; 2.893583 23,000 kg (50,000 lb) 518 m 23 m 28 January 1916  – n/a Abandoned The mine was placed under the barn of the farm La Basse Cour. It was discovered by the Germans on 24 August 1916, then flooded and abandoned. See note:


Plan: [11];

19 Trench 127 Left (or Trench 127 North) 50°44′55″N 2°54′14″E / 50.74861°N 2.90389°E / 50.74861; 2.90389 16,000 kg (36,000 lb) 302 m 25 m 28 December 1915 – 20 April 1916 Fired The mine consisted of two chambers (Trench 127 Left and Right) with a shared gallery. It was placed east of St. Yvon (St. Yves). The crater was in a field near the Khaki Chums Cross memorial and filled in during the latter part of the 20th century. See note:


Plan: [12];

20 Trench 127 Right (or Trench 127 South, Ash Crater) 50°44′51″N 2°54′17″E / 50.74750°N 2.90472°E / 50.74750; 2.90472 23,000 kg (50,000 lb) 405 m 26 m 28 December 1915  – 9 May 1916 Fired
21 Trench 122 Left (or Factory Farm 1, Ultimo Crater) 50°44′36″N 2°54′45″E / 50.74333°N 2.91250°E / 50.74333; 2.91250 9,100 kg (20,000 lb) 296 m 20 m February 1916  – 14 April 1916 Fired The mine consisted of two chambers (Trench 122 Left and Right) with a shared gallery. It was placed east of St. Yvon (St. Yves). Preparations for a two-chamber mine extending from Trench 122 started in December 1915. A charge of 9,100 kg (20,000 lb) was laid in May 1916 and a second of 18,000 kg (40,000 lb) was placed at the end of a 200 m (220 yd) long gallery, beneath the derelict Factory Farm. See note:


Plan: [13]; Views: photo

22 Trench 122 Right (or Factory Farm 2, Factory Farm Crater) 50°44′30″N 2°54′47″E / 50.74167°N 2.91306°E / 50.74167; 2.91306 18,000 kg (40,000 lb) 241 m 25 m February 1916 – 11 June 1916 Fired Views: photo 1, photo 2
23 Birdcage 1 (or Trench 121) 50°44′21″N 2°54′27″E / 50.73917°N 2.90750°E / 50.73917; 2.90750 9,100 kg (20,000 lb) 130 m 18 m December 1915  – 7 March 1916 Not fired The mine was placed east of Ploegsteert, around the German strongpoint Birdcage at Le Pelerin, near the southern end of Messines Ridge. Five mines were planned here, of which four (Birdcage 1–4) were constructed. None of them was fired, as they were too far behind British lines by the time the Battle of Messines commenced.


Plan: [14]

24 Birdcage 2 (or Trench 121) 50°44′20″N 2°54′28″E / 50.73889°N 2.90778°E / 50.73889; 2.90778 15,000 kg (32,000 lb) 236 m 18 m December 1915 – n/a Not fired
25 Birdcage 3 (or Trench 121) 50°44′20″N 2°54′31″E / 50.73889°N 2.90861°E / 50.73889; 2.90861 12,000 kg (26,000 lb) 261 m 20 m December 1915 – 30 April 1916 Exploded
in 1955
Detonated by lightning on 17 June 1955, after an electric-power pylon had been built over the site.
26 Birdcage 4 (or Trench 121) 50°44′20″N 2°54′30″E / 50.73889°N 2.90833°E / 50.73889; 2.90833 15,000 kg (34,000 lb) 239 m 18 m December 1915 – n/a Not fired

Gallery

See also

50°47′18″N 02°51′56″E / 50.78833°N 2.86556°E / 50.78833; 2.86556


This page was last updated at 2023-10-31 05:00 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari