Operation Kiwi DVD now available

We are very pleased to announce that a DVD recording the work undertaken during Operation Kiwi, the excavation of the Terrain Model of Messines on Cannock Chase is now available at at cost of £15 + £2 p&p for delivery to a UK address or £15 + £5 p&p for delivery outside the UK.

Told in three parts of 50 minutes each, experts, volunteers and locals reveal the story of the model from its construction, through its use as a tourist attraction to the 2013 excavations and the landscape over which the Battle of Messines was fought in 1917. Created as part of the process of recording the excavations and research, this is a non profit product and is only available in the PAL format. (Europe, New Zealand, Australia).

Please select:

Post to UK address: £17.00 GBP Post to an address outside of the UK: £20.00 GBP

Remembering the Dead

Although the Battle of Messines was a great success the loss of life was still very significant. Many men lost their lives in the advance and the hand to hand fighting to take the fortified towns. At Messines, the success of the New Zealand Division also contributed to their losses. In taking and holding the town well before the appointed hour to move forward to take the second line of German defences, resulted in a large number of troops gathering amongst the newly captured ruins of the towns. Before the order to advance was given, the enemy artillery regrouped and launched a barrage of shells on the town, causing many casualties.

Messines Ridge Cemetery, resting place of many New Zealanders.

As with all the major battles of the Great War, some bodies were never recovered and over the intervening years the remains of men are discovered during archaeology and building work. 

In 2012 a New Zealand soldier was discovered during work in Messines, he was laid to rest with full military honours.

 

 

Video from the ceremony.

Family History and the Great War

Today the scale of the Great War is difficult to comprehend, the lives of every family in every town across the whole world was affected by the conflict. Almost every family had someone serving in the armed forces or the munitions and war effort factories.

Do you know what your family were doing 100 years ago?

The Wartime Memories Project are developing a Guide to tracing your Family in the Great War which you may find helpful, their website is also a huge resource for sharing stories of the conflict, with links to many other useful websites.

Community links via the Cannock Great War Project.

Today we have had a visit from Lt Colonel Mike Beale of the New Zealand Defence Force, who travelled up from London to see the site and strengthen links between the local community here in Staffordshire and the islands of New Zealand. He was very impressed with the work we have done on site and the historical research and was able to provide our team with information on how the NZ Forces use training maps today and historical information about their part in the 1917 attack on Messines. He was also able to liase with a colleague via mobile phone, to pin point the location of Frickleton's VC action.

Lt Col Beale also laid a wreath in the corner of the site.

We were also joined on site by a group of sixth formers from a local school who helped with the excavation.

 Today's guard dog, Buddy.

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.

A Busy Day

Sunday was a very busy day at the Messines Model with a lot of visitors from near and far, quite a few also had personal connections to Brocton Camp or the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and it was great to hear their stories as we worked. For part of the day we also had musical accompaniment from Robert Owen, who played tunes from the Great War and New Zealand. In the afternoon we had an aerial visit from Peter Martin who kindly agreed to take some air photos for us. We were also visited by a birthday party group of youngsters who enjoyed Martin's explaination of the Battle of Messines and the model.

Progress on the excavation is going well, with some key points in the geography of the battle being revealed.

 

This part of the model shows the trenches at what is now the New Zealand Memorial.

Charlie keeping watch.

Photographs and archaeology at the Messines Model

One of the more well known tales of the Model of Messines on Cannock Chase is the story of its use as a tourist attraction between the wars, when the custodian had a tin hut at one corner of the model and would give tours for a charge of six pence. In fact earlier in the week we had a visit from a gentleman who had taken the tour with his father in the 1930's and a relative of the custodian has made several visits to observe our progress.

Our amateur historians, Lee and Richard have been studying the photographs of the hut and working out where it was situated, by comparison to the existing landscape and the remains of the model as our team uncover them. Careful study of these small images has revealed vital elements of the history of the terrain model.

In one corner we have uncovered a very solid concrete construction and in the top soil close to the banking a small collection of debris including a bucket handle, bottle tops and broken glass, contemporary with the period the hut was in use. There are also traces of what could be the remains of the floor of the hut. Were these concrete blocks added to support the small hut? They are very solid and the presence of two post notches suggest that they may have been reused in situ rather than built for the hut. Perhaps part of a viewing platform for the troops? We know from photographs of the terrain models in Flanders, that they included a raised wooden platform for troops to view the model from above, was a similar arrangement in place here? We hope the archaeology will reveal the answer as we continue to excavate.

If anyone can help answer this question, please get in touch.

For a closer look at the 1930's photos please see http://www.staffspasttrack.org.uk/exhibit/chasecamps/archaeology.htm

In Saturday's Sunshine

One week on from the launch of the excavation of the model of Messines on Cannock Chase and work is progressing well. Today we had a good number of volunteers and additional members of No Man's Land have arrived for the weekend.

We have also had an increase in visitors coming along to see the model and Lee has been on site to give short talks and an explanation of progress.

 

In places the model is incomplete and we have had tales relayed of buildings being removed and used as garden ornaments after the model had become overgrown in the 1960's. Some of the buildings have been given to the Chase rangers in more recent times. If you know of the location of any buildings taken from the model, we would love to hear from you. Likewise if you have any old photos of the model or any of the buildings in use as rockery features,  we would love to see a copy, they would be a great aid to our research. 

Memories and Family History

Today we have had some interesting local visitors to the site, including two brothers whose father came to the area from Leicestershire as one of the civilians brought in to construct the camps on the Chase. The elder brother has vague childhood memories of visiting the Messines model between the wars.

Another visitor brought a photograph of his grandfather as a prisoner of war, he relayed fond memories of his time in the camp and revealed that his grandfather developed a liking for tea and continued to drink English tea even after returning to his native country.

We also had a visit from a Kiwi, now living locally whose father had been part of the NZEF and spent time at Brocton Camp. He also has some photos which may have been taken at the camp.

If you have any personal connections to Brocton Camp, any photos, stories or documents, we would love to hear from you. Please

email cannockwwiexcavations@gmail.com

If you would like to join us we are looking for more volunteers to help with the excavation, if you can pledge any time over the next two and a half weeks, please get in touch by email.