Volume 13 , Issue 24

WWI Underground

Have you read anything about the Battle of Messines in 1917 where 455 tons of explosive place in 21 tunnels had taken more than a year to prepare created a huge explosion that killed an estimated 10,000 Germans?

The tunneling was done by professional miners, sent from the collieries of Britain to the Western Front. It happened at La Boisselle in 1915-16 and was a classic example of mining and counter-mining, with both sides struggling desperately to locate and destroy each other's tunnels. It was on 22 November 1915, when a German mine exploded, which in turn detonated a british charge of 5900lb.

La Boisselle stood on the main axis of the attack of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, when the British launched this bloody battle.

Timeline of Events:
La Boisselle: A Village Under Siege

• 28 Sep 1914 - German advance on Amiens halted by French forces. Fierce fighting over the cemetery and farm buildings
• Dec 1914 - French begin mining to retake the farm. Intense struggle above and below ground
• Aug 1915 - British take over the sector from the French with tunnels now at a depth of 40ft (12m)
• 1 July 1916 - British launch disastrous Battle of Somme with village on main axis of attack. Two huge mines - Y Sap and Lochnagar - create massive craters, one 270ft (82m) wide by 70ft (21m) deep
• 4 July 1916 - British capture village after further heavy fighting
• March 1918 - German troops overrun trenches in the village during Operation Michael, part of the huge Kaiserschlacht offensive
• Aug 1918 - Welsh troops liberate La Boisselle

READ MORE at BBC News - WWI Underground: Unearthing the Hidden Tunnel War.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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