The Battle of Messines was one of the most successful local operations of World War I and certainly of the Western Front. It was carried out by General Herbert Plumer’s Second Army and launched on June 7, 1917.
The target of the offensive was the Messines Ridge, a natural stronghold southeast of Ypres and a small German salient since late 1914.
The attack was also a precursor to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, which was decided upon by the British Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig following the collapse of the French Nivelle Offensive earlier in May 1917.
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General Plumer had begun plans to take the Messines Ridge a year early in early 1916. Meticulous in manner, Plumer preferred to plan for limited successes rather than gamble all on a significant breakthrough.
In preparing for the Messines battle, he had authorized the laying of 22 mine shafts underneath German lines all along the ridge.
His plan was to detonate all 22 at zero hours at 03:10 on June 7, 1917, followed by infantry attacks so as to secure the ridge from the presumably dazed German defenders. The infantry was heavily supported by artillery bombardments, tanks, and gas.
Work on laying the mines began some 18 months before zero hours. One mine at Petite Douve Farm was discovered by German counterminers on August 24, 1916, and destroyed.
A further two mines close to Ploegsteert Wood did not explode as they were outside the planned attack area.
In the face of active German counter-mining, 8,000 meters of the tunnel were constructed under German lines.
Occasionally, tunnellers would encounter German counterparts engaged in the same task: underground hand-to-hand fighting would ensure.
The Battle
On May 21, 1917, a heavy preliminary artillery bombardment of the German lines began, involving 2,300 guns and 300 heavy mortars. It ceased at 02:50 on the morning of June 7.
The German troops, sensing imminent attack, rushed to their defensive positions with machine guns ready and sent up flares to detect British movement towards the ridge.
Silence prevailed for the following twenty minutes until, at 03:10, the order was given across the line to detonate the mines, which totaled 600 tons of explosives. Of the 21 mines laid, 19 exploded.
The invariable loss of surprise in the use of a preliminary bombardment was entirely offset by the effect of the mines, which blew the crest off the Messines-Wytschaete ridge.
The combined sound of the simultaneous mine explosions was audible in Dublin and by Lloyd George in his Downing Street study and comprised the loudest man-made explosion until that point. The lighting up of the sky as the detonations ran across the ridge was likened to a ‘pillar of fire.’
The effect of the mine explosions upon the German defenders was devastating. Some 10,000 men were killed during the explosion alone.
In its wake, nine divisions of infantry advanced under the protection of a creeping artillery barrage, tanks, and gas attacks from new Livens projectors, which were designed to throw gas canisters directly into enemy trenches.
All initial objectives were taken within three hours. Reserves from General Gough’s Fifth Army and the French First Army under Anthoine reached their own final objectives by mid-afternoon.
German troops counter-attacked on June 8 without success; in fact, they lost further ground as their attacks were repelled. German counter-attacks continued in diminishing form until June 14. By this stage, the entire Messines salient was in Allied hands.
Conclusion
The Battle of Messines was a significant victory for the Allies and boosted morale. It was also the first time on the Western Front that defensive casualties actually exceeded attacking losses: 25,000 against 17,000.
Of the two mines that remained undetonated on June 7, the details of their precise location were mislaid by the British following the war, to the discomfort of local townspeople. One of the mines was detonated in a thunderstorm on June 17, 1955; the only casualty was a dead cow.
The second mine remains undetected, although, in recent years, its location is believed to have been pinpointed. No one has as yet attempted its recovery.