Tanks in Action

During the Second World War, Channock Chase was used to test tanks built in the factory nearby, we have discovered a nice link to this fact as one of the best surviving features of the Great War Model at Brocton Camp is a fortified farm, known as "Fanny's Farm". The farm is shown as an L shaped block right on the edge of the model, the back corner clipped as as not to impede the drainage channel, the circular trench system surrounding the buildings is very clear and survives well, being buried a little deeper than other areas of the model.

Lee & some of the volunteers checking the map at Fanny's Farm.

The farm was situated on the northern boundary of the New Zealand Division's sector on the 7th of June 1917. As the troops advanced they were held up for a time by machine gun fire from the farm. This enemy strong hold was over come when a Mk IV tank arrived to assist the infantry, and holed the wall, allowing the capture of the machine gun crew and other enemy soldiers within.

Have we answered the puzzle of the Messines Church Model?

Partly:

Records reveal that the German artillery spotters were using the bell tower as viewing platform to guide their guns onto the British lines to the east and south of Messines in the early months of the war. The enemy being able to direct his fire with precision was a huge problem for the British Forces and in October or November 14, a well placed artillery shell sliced the bell tower from the stone tower, depriving the enemy of the high viewing platform

Further investigation of archive sources may have revealed the answer to the style of church, we have located a photographic post card of the church dated 1914, which shows the tower without the embellished bell tower on top, giving the appearance of a square Norman style tower.

This image matches more closely with the photos of the model, though legend has it that the model included a pocket watch in the tower as the church clock. A feature that is absent from the actual church, though today the Peace Bells chime with a different melody every quarter of an hour and a full peel on the hour. Well worth pausing to listen.


We  are also pleased to report that we have also been contacted by the family who had the model church in their garden for many years.  They have also been able to provide us with some photographs which confirm the story of the pocket watch embedded in the structure. Unfortunately the model of the church no longer survives but at least we can now tell it's story in full.

The Puzzle of Messines Church Model

Messines Church with the distinctive tower dominates the landscape today, as it did before the Great War, having been rebuilt to almost the same design.

As an obvious land mark, it also formed the centre point of the Model of Messines here on Cannock Chase. However as we can see from the 1930's photographs of the model, the interpretation of the building appears very different.

This raises an important question, why did they depict what appears to be a square towered Norman style church as the centre piece for the model?

We are in possession of two images of the model which include the church, both show this configuration. Unfortunately for our investigations, the model of the church is missing, having been rescued from the decaying model many years ago, it was last seen in a garden in the village of Brocton, does anyone know where it is now? It would be helpful to our project to be able to view it, are there any photographs of it in the garden?

The Men of Messines

 Looking back through time, it is easy to look at the major battles of the Great War from the point of view of tactics, landscape and politics, but these were battles fought by individuals who formed the Platoons within Companies, which made up the Battalions, which formed the Brigades, which made up the Divisions of the Army. It is the stories of these individuals which reveal the details of the battle and the lives of people at that time.

No Man's Land, have a website which follows the progress of our work in Belgium, included in the site are pages dedicated to the men of Plumer's Second Army and also the men of German Army at Messines whose role in the battle must not be forgotten.

If you can add the names of any men who took part in the Battle of Messines, please use the forms on our website to add their story.

7th June 1917 - The Capture of Messines

The fighting at Messines was heavy, the enemy had held the town for three and a half years, during which time they had fortified the cellars and built concrete bunkers inside some of the buildings as well as an extensive trench network with machine gun posts and pill boxes. All situated on the crest of the hill, giving a huge advantage to the defenders.

Messines today from the Allied observation post on Hill 62.

The New Zealand troops were faced with machine gun fire and vicious hand to hand fighting to take the ruined town. An account of the New Zealanders at Messines tells the story in greater detail than we could cover on this blog.

7th June 1917 - The Battle Begins

At 3.10am on the 7th of June 1917, nineteen of the huge mines planted beneath Messines Ridge were detonated. The huge explosions signaled the start of the attack and along the ten mile front, Allied soldiers who had moved into position during the night, got to their feet and advanced behind the creeping barrage of their artillery. Unlike many other battles, the first wave of troops did not climb out of the trenches in the classic "over the top", the effect of the shock wave of the explosions was expected to cause damage to the trenches, as the front lines were so close together. Rather than wait in the trenches, the men waited lying flat on the ground close to the trenches.

The advance to the front lines during the night did not go completely as planned. The enemy were well aware of the impending attack and in most cases of the tunneling work to lay the mines. In the Australian sector, the men of the 33rd Battalion made their way through the tracks of Plugstreet Wood and were subjected to bombardment of German gas shells, which resulted in a number of casualties, including some dead, who now lie side by side in Toronto Avenue Cemetery within the wood.

Over the months leading up to the battle, the German's had dug their own tunnels in an attempt to prevent the Allies from laying the mines. In the New Zealand sector, the mine at Petite Douve Farm was discovered by the enemy and the river diverted to flood the underground workings and render the explosives useless. At the northern end of the salient, the hand to hand fighting in the vast tunnel network beneath Hill 60 is well documented. At the southern end, the team from No Man's Land, have been undertaking archaeological investigations in the area attacked by the Australian 3rd Division and in 2011 uncovered the entrance shaft to a German counter tunnel.

 Members of No Man's Land excavating a German tunnel shaft.

For the troops of the British Second Army, the blowing of the mines was an awesome sight, for the enemy just a few hundred yards away, it was terrifying. Reports tell of the once stoical men of the German Imperial Army so badly shaken that they were reduced to tears, disorientated and deafened.

However not all had been disabled by the blasts. The geology of the land restricted the placement of the mines and the fortified towns of Messines and Wytschaete escaped the destruction from underground, the mines being placed on the German front line down slope of the towns. Here the New Zealanders and Irish men were engaged in fierce fighting to secure the ruined houses and their fortified cellars.

Twin craters from the mines near to Wytschaete

Due to the loss of the mine at Petite Douve, the New Zealander Division only had one mine in their sector, at Ontario Farm close to the Wulverghem to Messines Road. Here the soil is very sandy and the explosion had very different effects, the shockwave causing the enemy fortifications to sink due to liquefaction, instead of a distinct crater, the sand settled back and the men reported the site of  the explosion bubbled like porridge for many days as trapped gases found their way to the surface. 

Lions & Donkeys or Plans well made?

Lions led by Donkeys, is often the view of the Great War, men sent over the top with no hope of any gain. This view may be true of the Battle of the Somme, as the attack was brought forward and launched without support, but the Battle of Messines is one of the most successful allied attacks of the entire conflict. 

Even before the Pals Battalions were mown down in the attempt to capture the chalky downs of the Somme, plans were being made to dislodge the enemy from Messines Ridge.

The city of Ypres, famously held by the Allies, was not only a symbol of the stand against the enemy, but also a key point of the transport hub in Flanders, well connected by rail, canal and the road network, but also on a salient, a bulge in the front line, vulnerable to attack from three sides. To the north of the city the landscape is almost flat, to the south a ridge of small hills form a curve.

This topographical map from the No Man's Land website www.plugstreet-aracheology.com shows the city of Ypres in the low, darker, areas at the top and the front line marked in brown curving around the western edge of the high ground shown in lighter shades. This map centres on Wytschaete, the highest point of the ridge, with Messines occupying the next high point and Plugstreet Wood marked in dark green at the bottom.

In the spring of 1915 a plan was hatched to take back the ridge. Many of the Allied Divisions, including the Pals Battalions and Commonwealth Forces were already in training for the Offensive which would later become The Battle of the Somme, these units would become the British Third and Four Armies. Under the Command of General Plumer the Second Army was formed, their first objective would be Messines Ridge,   to straighten the front line, and allow the Allies to push forward from Ypres in what would be known as the Third Battle of Ypres, planned to take place just weeks after the Battle of Messines.

The Second Army was made up of a mixture of experienced and new units, with the battle hardened British 23rd Division being assigned the notorious Hill 60 close to Ypres, with the London Territorials of the 47th Division at their side. The strong point of St Eloi would be attacked by the 41st Home Counties Divison, with the 19th Western Division to their right. The key town of Wytschaete would be attacked by the 16th and 36th Irish Divisions. The town of Messines would be the responsibility of the 2nd Anzac Corps, which included the British 25th Division, the New Zealand Division and on the southern slopes towards Plugstreet Wood, the 3rd Australian Division, who would be facing the enemy for the first time.

The problem was how to dislodge the enemy from their fortifications on the hilltops.

Why Messines?

Messines is the smallest town in Belgium, situated on a small ridge in the rolling landscape, not far from the border with France. Today it is a quiet place, the red brick houses, rebuilt on the foundations of those destroyed during the Great War, at first glance appear to be more than 90 odd years old. Only the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery on the eastern edge, the Irish tower and New Zealand Memorial on the southern edge, the multitude of flags international fluttering outside the Peace Village and the musical chime of the Peace Bells marking the passing of time from the church tower, provide any indication of events almost a century ago.

 The New Zealand Memorial at Messines.

About ten miles to the north is the city of Ypres, famous during the Great War for remaining in allied hands, the fiercely defended symbol of defiance against the invading army. A few miles to the south is Armentières, also in Allied hands, between the two the front lines sweep in a wide curve with the German Imperial Army holding the ridge and the towns of Messines and Wytschaete with their excellent views over the surrounding countryside. 

This was the situation from October 1914 onwards. The Allies had halted the advance, but were unable to push the enemy back. Both sides dug in, fortifying the lines, using farm houses and town houses as shelter from the shelling and defensive points against infantry attack . In the towns on the ridge the German's had the advantage of the cellars beneath the houses and in Messines the large cellars beneath the Institution Royale were ideal.

Despite appearances, the Allies did not just hold the line for the next three years, plans were afoot to break the enemy's hold on Flanders, and Messines was central to that plan.