Who blew up Messines Ridge?

Several hours later, starting at 3:10 a.m. on June 7, British engineers detonated 19 enormous mines buried deep below German positions along a ridge outside Messines.

What was the cause of the battle of Messines?

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. The attack on Messines Ridge was scheduled for June 7th 1917. The assault was tasked to men from General Herbert Plumer’s Second Army.

How many died at Messines Ridge?

Losses: British, 17,000 casualties of 216,000; German, 25,000 of 126,000.

What is the name of the ex miners who dug under enemy trenches to plant explosives?

The British tunnelers, called moles, included many ex-coal miners. All were volunteers, but because they were specialists working at an unusually perilous job, they were each paid three times more than an ordinary soldier.

Why is it called Lochnagar Crater?

The British named the mine after ‘Lochnagar Street’, a British trench where the Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers dug a shaft down about 90 feet deep into the chalk; then excavated some 300 yards towards the German lines to place 60,000 lbs (27 tons) of ammonal explosive in two large adjacent underground …

What does Messines mean?

[ French me-seen ] SHOW IPA. / French mɛˈsin / PHONETIC RESPELLING. noun. a village in W Belgium, near Ypres: battles 1914, 1917.

What battle does 1917 depict?

the Battle of Passchendaele
The fighting in the movie was inspired by (but unfolds prior to) the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, which took place from July 31, 1917 to November 10, 1917. Both the British and the Germans suffered heavy casualties.

Why are Tunnelers so respected?

At their own special work, Mine Warfare, they have demonstrated their complete superiority over the Germans, and whether in the patient defensive mining, the magnificent success at Messines, or in the preparation for the offensive on the Somme, Arras and Ypres, they have shown the highest qualities both as Military …

What was the crater filled area between the trench lines called?

Placed to the north of La Boisselle (see map) and located in the front sector allocated to III Corps (see Capture of La Boisselle). The crater has since been filled in and is no longer visible. One of the two charges at La Boisselle known as the Glory Hole mines, placed from galleries dug from Inch Street Trench.