Battle of Messines (1917)

Battle of Messines
Part of the Western Front of World War I
Map of the battle, depicting the front on 7 June and subsequent action until 14 June.
Date 7 June 1917 - 14 June 1917 Location Flanders, Belgium Result Decisive British victory
Belligerents
British Empire • United Kingdom • Australia • New Zealand	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Herbert Plumer Alexander Godley Alexander Hamilton-Gordon Thomas Morland	Sixt von Armin
Strength
12 divisions 216,000 men total	126,000
Casualties and losses
23,749	25,000

The Battle of Messines was a battle of the western front of World War I. It was launched on 7 June 1917 near the village of Mesen (Messines) by the British Second Army under the command of General Herbert Plumer. The target of the offensive was a ridge running north from Messines village past Wytschaete village which created a natural stronghold southeast of Ypres. One of the key features of the attack was the detonation of 19 mines immediately prior to the attack, a tactic which disrupted German defences and allowed the advancing troops to secure their objectives in rapid fashion. The attack was also a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, which began on 31 July 1917.

Background

The assault on Messines ridge was initially conceived in early 1916, as Plumer sought ways to break German control of important strategic locations in the Ypres area. When it became apparent that the French offensive on the River Aisne would not succeed, General Haig reconceived the Messines operation as a precursor to a larger assault in the Ypres sector and ordered Plumer to proceed with the attack as soon as possible. Not only would capturing Messines Ridge give the British control of important strategic ground, it would also flatten out the southern flank of the Ypres Salient. This would both reduce the manpower needed to maintain the front, and reduce the German strategic and tactical advantages in the area.

Mining operations

Over a period beginning more than a year before the attack, Canadian, Australian, and British engineers had tunneled under the German trenches and laid 21 mines totaling 455 tonnes of ammonal. To solve the problem of wet soil, the tunnels were made in the layer of "blue clay", 80 to 120 feet (25 to 30 m) below the surface. The galleries dug in order to lay these mines totalled over 8,000 yards (7,300 m) in length, and had been constructed in the face of tenacious German counter-mining efforts. On several occasions, German tunnelers were within metres of large British mine "chambers". One mine was found by the Germans, and the chamber was wrecked by a countermine. It is likely that this is one of the two unexploded mines.

The largest of the 21 Messines mines was at Spanbroekmolen, the "Lone Tree Crater" formed by the blast was approximately 250 feet (80 m) in diameter, and 40 feet (12 m) deep. The mine consisted of 41 tons of ammonal explosive, located in a chamber dug 88 feet (27 m) below ground.

Opposing forces

The assault was conducted almost entirely by troops of the British Second Army. Arranged from north-west to south-east, the formations used in the assault were: X Corps (23rd, 47th and 41st Divisions), under the command of General Thomas Morland, IX Corps (19th, 16th and 36th Divisions), under the command of General Alexander Hamilton-Gordon and II Anzac Corps (25th, New Zealand and 3rd Australian Divisions) under the command of general Alexander Godley. They were opposed by German troops from Fourth Army, under the command of Sixt von Armin.

The battle

The plan called for a sustained bombardment of German positions, beginning on 21 May, and continuing almost to zero hour. Shelling was briefly halted at approximately three AM, and the mines were detonated. Nine infantry divisions then advanced under a creeping barrage to secure the ridge. A further three divisions were held in reserve.

Detonation of the mines and assault

The preliminary bombardment actually ceased at 2:50am on 7 June. At this time, many German defenders left their bunkers and returned to their defensive positions, expecting an immediate assault. At 3:10am, the mines were detonated, killing approximately 10,000 German soldiers and destroying much of the fortifications on the ridge, as well as the town of Messines itself. Reports were made that the explosion was heard as far away as London and Dublin, and it was also possibly the loudest man-made noise made up to that date. To make matters worse for the Germans, the explosions occurred while the front line troops were being relieved, meaning both groups (relieving and relieved) were caught in the blasts. Following the explosions, British, Australian and New Zealand troops from three corps (II ANZAC, IX and X) advanced on the Messines salient from three sides. The front lines were overrun without opposition. German troops surrendered "in droves", and the first series of objectives had been secured almost entirely within three hours.

Advancing on the southern flank, the New Zealand Division captured the village of Messines proper, despite intricate layers of fortifications beyond the front line. In the center, the 36th (Ulster) Division and 16th (Irish) Division advanced in tandem, capturing the village of Wytschaete and pushing forward to secure their objectives. Many considered this joint effort to be of considerable significance, given the turmoil in Ireland at the time.. The Irish Nationalist Member of Parliament Major William Hoey Kearney Redmond was fatally wounded in this action.

The most serious resistance was in the northern sector, where the 47th (1/2nd London) Division had to navigate across the Ypres-Comines canal. This obstacle slowed the advance considerably, but the Londoners had secured all their objectives my mid-morning, and the goals of the first phase were achieved by 10:00am at all points on the line of attack.

Once the first series of objectives were secured, more than forty batteries of artillery were brought forward to support the second phase of the attack. Bombardment continued for several hours, at at approximately 3:00pm the reserve divisions, supported by tanks, advanced towards the second line of objectives. In just over an hour, all these were secured

German counterattacks

On 9 and 10 June, German troops counterattacked at several points along the new British lines. Although British troops had had very little time to consolidate their positions, the German attacks were easily repulsed and ultimately resulted in further territorial gains.

Aftermath

The operation was almost totally successful. Meticulously planned, and well executed, the assault secured all its objectives in less than twelve hours, took more than 7,000 prisoners, and suffered a relatively modest 16,000 total casualties. The combination of tactics proven in other sectors - notably the use of mines, creeping barrages, and small-unit tactics - allowed for almost complete surprise and rapid advances. The offensive also secured the southern end of the Ypres salient in preparation for the subsequent offensive in that area.

Although the operation was successful, it had the effect of over-inflating expectations for the Passchendaele offensive. While Messines led Haig and other British commanders to believe that success could be had relatively cheaply in the main offensive as well, the circumstances of the operations were substantially different, and attempts to apply similar tactics would result in a general failure.

Not all of the mines that had been laid were detonated. Two of the original 21 mines were not ignited because they were outside the area of the offensive. On 17 July 1955, a lightning strike set off one of the remaining mines. There were no human casualties, but one cow was killed. The 21st mine - the mine abandoned due to its discovery by German counter-miners - is believed to have been found, but no attempt has been made to remove it.

In 1930 one crater was purchased for preservation by Lord Wakefield, and is now owned by the Christian group Toc H. The crater eventually filled with rainwater and was later dedicated as the Spanbroekmolen "Pool of Peace" in 1932.

A New Zealand War Monument and the Island of Ireland Peace Park War Memorial are located on the south side of the Messines village.

Today the New Zealand Army's Messines Army Centre, located near Trentham Military Camp in Upper Hutt, is named after the battle.

References

• Keegan, John; The First World War New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999
• Liddell Hart, B.H. The Real War 1914-1918. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1930
• Stokesbury, James L; A short history of World War I. New York: Perennial, 1981
• Strachan, Hew; The First World War. New York: Viking, 2003
• Wolff, Leon; In Flanders Fields, Passchendaele 1917.
• Tom Burke MBE; 'A Guide to the Battlefield of Wijtschate - June 1917', The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Associaton (pub June 2007); ISBN 0-9550418-1-3

External links

• The Battle for Messines Ridge
• First World War.com - A more detailed overview of the battle with links to present day pictures of the battlefield
• An account of the experiences of an ordinary soldier at Messines ridge, as recounted in his letters home
• Battle for Messines (NZHistory.net.nz) includes film and interactive showing the creeping barrage