Blasting the Battlefield: The Devastating Mines of Messines
Massacre at Messines Mines: Detonation Kills Over 10,000 Soldiers Instantly - Catastrophic Mine Blasts at Messines: Over 10,000 Lives Lost Instantaneously
Waging war in World War I was a blood-soaked and brutal affair. By 1917, the bloody campaign on the Western Front had yet to yield a victor, with the German Empire still far from surrender. The heavy losses suffered during the Battle of the Somme took a heavy toll not just on the troops, but also on their morale, particularly for the British forces.
On the chilling morning of June 7, 1917, scenes of pure destruction unfolded just beyond the picturesque Belgian village of Messines. Earth-shattering explosions rocked the silence, obliterating the German positions and claiming the lives of an estimated 10,000 enemy soldiers in a matter of heartbeats. Norman Down, a Royal Engineers veteran, penned in his journal, "The earth shook like a volcano, and the sky was filled with fire."
The magnitude of the explosions was without precedent until the atomic bomb. The sound waves shook southern England, reaching even the ears of Prime Minister David Lloyd George in his London office. In Lille, 20 kilometers away, the ground trembled, jolting occupants awake in their beds. Marie-Louise Declercq, a Belgian farmer, recounted, "Our homes trembled, and we didn't know if we were alive."
In the dead of night, the British Army unleashed their unconventional weapon of mass destruction—26 mines, carefully constructed beneath no man's land and loaded with a staggering 450 tons of Ammonal, a highly explosive mixture. The largest mine, beneath the Spanbroekmolen crater, contained a colossal 41 tons of explosives.
The Haunting Stillness Before the Storm
Although the Germans suspected something was brewing under their noses—they had themselves discovered a mine at Kruisstraat—the Allied operation's scope remained hidden from them. On the brink of the offensive, James Douglas of the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles captured the suspense in his diary, "All was still, unnaturally still, and then hell broke loose."
High-ranking officials, aware of the operation's gravity, spoke with unbridled optimism. On the eve of the offensive, General Sir Charles Harington, Chief of Staff of the Second Army, declared to the press, "I don't know if we will change history tomorrow, but we will certainly change the landscape."
The colossal explosions marked the beginning of a British offensive under the command of General Herbert Plumer, with the ultimate objective of capturing a crucial ridge—the Wytschaete Bow. From these positions, the Germans enjoyed a superior vantage point, making any Allied offensive an risky venture.
The groundwork for the offensive had been laid in mid-1915, almost two years prior to the battle. A motley crew of British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand pioneers, including specialized tunneling companies like the 175th, 250th, and 3rd Canadian Tunnelling Company, had spent countless hours in the mud and darkness, carving out kilometers-long tunnels beneath the German lines. This intricate network stretched across eight kilometers, ranging in depth from 15 to 30 meters. The miners faced constant threats of collapsing soil and being discovered by the enemy explorers. Alfred Burr, a member of the 175th Tunnelling Company, poignantly wrote in a letter to his family, "We dug in the dark, soaked to the bone, and listened to the Germans above us."
The initial casualties were estimated at around 10,000 German soldiers. Whole units were decimated or annihilated without a chance to react to the deafening explosion. Private Paul Schmidt of the 3rd Bavarian Division wrote the following day, "Suddenly the ground rose up, and everything was gone." The psychological impact was profound; survivors spoke of feelings of panic and disorientation, as the ground beneath their feet disappeared.
Following the explosions, the battle commenced in earnest. A barrage of 2,000 guns rained down on the German trenches, including poisonous gas like phosgene and chlorine. Nine Allied divisions, including the 36th Ulster Division, the 16th Irish Division, and the Australian 3rd Division, charged forth and stormed the devastated German lines. Messines and Wytschaete were quickly captured by sunrise. By June 14, the Allies had successfully secured the ridge, but at a steep cost of about 25,000 casualties on both sides. Harold Gillies, a Royal Army Medical Corps doctor, noted in his diary, "We won, but the cost was too high."
The Unintended Aftermath
Although the mines were critical to the Allied victory, only 19 out of 26 were detonated. One was discovered by the Germans, two were duds due to technical issues, and the remaining mines were left untouched, located beyond the new front lines. These "lost mines" continued to pose a threat, with one exploding in 1955 due to a lightning strike and creating a crater that killed a cow. The largest unexploded mine, beneath La Petite Douve Farm, carries 25 tons of explosives and is believed to be the world's largest unexploded charge. Despite several attempts to uncover its location, it remains hidden, waiting to unleash another destructive burst.
Miners were an extraordinary breed of soldiers. Their job involved constant danger, as tunnels collapsed, workers succumbed to gas poisoning, or they were buried alive. Furthermore, the mysterious activities of undercover enemy mining teams led to tense standoffs. During close-quarters confrontations, pickaxes and knives became deadly weapons.
The modern-day legends of mining are the Shelby brothers from the series "Peaky Blinders," who, according to the show, served in the 179th Tunnelling Company. Their battles in the underground are wrought with trauma and haunt them long after returning to Brummagem.
The unexplainable disaster that occurred in 1955 was a stark reminder of the First World War, as a cow was tragically killed by an exploded mine that had been left beneath La Petite Douve Farm since 1917. Interestingly, the Shelby brothers from the series "Peaky Blinders" are said to have served in a tunneling company similar to those that constructed the mines during the war, hinting at the deep-rooted impact of these experiences for soldiers who delved into the darkness beneath the trenches. Ulster, like many other divisions, played a crucial role in the Battle of Messines, yet the lasting effects of the war, such as the unintended aftermath of the lost mines, continue to lurk beneath the surface, a grim testament to the horrors of war that persist long after the guns fall silent.
