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

Messines Model featured on Inside Out

Last night 21st October 2013, Inside Out West Midlands featured our work on the Cannock Chase Model of Messines. If you missed it you can catch it on iPlayer until next Monday. Inside Out on iPlayer

Cannock Model Information Boards

Our information boards have now been removed from the site for safe keeping, but copies are now available below.

Click the images to enlarge for reading:

Casualties of War

One of the most important aspects of the war, is one which is sometimes overlooked when visiting the battlefield, even in miniature. The official histories speak of heroic deeds and hard fighting, success and failure, the white portland headstones of the Commonwealth War Graves are a stark hauntingly beautiful reminder of those who lost their lives in these blood soaked fields. But what of those who were injured?

To the families and soldiers the Royal Army Medical Corps is perhaps one of the most vital of the support services on the battlefield, something which is as true today as it was in 1917.

The Battle of Messines was planned in every detail and the medical support was a massive part of this plan. The New Zealanders had a well co-ordinated network to assist the injured both on the battlefield and to evacuate them back to the hospitals on the coast of France or in England.

The Main Dressing Station was situated at Westhoft Farm with the Advanced Dressing Station at Kandahar behind the British Lines, they also used the Australian Advanced Dressing Station at Underhill Farm, all lined by tramways and motor car ambulances. There were two Regimental Aid Posts at Fort Osbourne and Boyles Farm, which were moved forward into captured territory after the Town of Messines had been captured at 7am. Captain Nelson, the RMO of the 1st Aucklands, opened his RAP in a captured concrete dug out in Ulcer Sap and Capt Addison opened his RAP at Moulin de L'Ospice a German strong point on the site of the Windmill belonging to the Institution Royale on the western edge of Messines, now the site of the CWGC Cemetery.


The NZ Medical Corps Report of the preparations for the battle and the events during the action is available online and makes interesting reading: The New Zealand Medical Service in the Great War 1914-1918

The German army employed a very similar system, with their main aid post being situated close to the Institution Royale with further facilities in the cellars. The German RAP was demolished during the preliminary bombardments before the Battle, killing many of their medical personnel, leading the attacking troops to conclude that the enemy had scant regard for their injured comrades.

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.

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.

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.

Tried and Tested Methods

Plumer's plan for Messines Ridge included a very ancient tactic to overcome the fortress of the enemy. He would tunnel beneath the lines and lay massive explosive charges beneath the key strong points to destroy them at the moment of the attack.

This tactic had been used on a smaller scale from early in the war, most famously at Hill 60, the much fought over high point close to Ypres, well known for the underground war as each side tried to out flank the other with silently dug tunnels, explosives and counter mines.

The mines at Messines Ridge were carefully planned, the geology studied in detail and small scale tests were carried out by the Royal Engineers in the UK and France. Tunneling for the Messines Offensive began in early 1915, no easy task in the dense blue clay of Flanders.

All the work had to be done in secret and in silence. Specialist Tunneling Companies were formed in the Royal Engineers, made up not of soldiers, but of miners, men who were used to working underground in the coal mines of the north of England, Canada and Australia and the men who worked on the tunnels for underground railways and canal systems. They began work behind the British Lines, with mine engineers sinking deep shafts through the layers of sand into the firmer clay below.

As the Second Army prepared in the training camps of Britain, including the New Zealand Rifle Brigade at Brocton Camp, the workers of the explosive factories prepared 600 tons of deadly ammonal, the miners extended the tunnels, inch by silent inch.

By the spring of 1917 Twenty Four mines had been laid, from twelve tunnels crossing No Man's Land 70 feet below the surface.

Soggy Sunday

With the weather forecast predicting rain, rain, wind and more rain, members of No Man's Land and a small number of volunteers arrived on site at 9am, under grey skies we all expected the worst. However, the tarpaulins had remained in placeover night and after a session of bailing and careful water management, we were able to uncover part of our working area and cautiously begin work.

Archaeology and wet weather are not a good mix, as it is all too easy to make a mess and potentially miss small features in the mud. The model of Messines was constructed using fragments of brick, pebbles and poor quality mortar, 40 plus years of exposure to the elements and almost another half century burried beneath a thin layer of top soil, has left the model in a fragile condition. When wet, the crumbling structures of the model are soft and even more easily damaged, so extra care had to be taken.

Despite the conditions we managed to extend our excavation by a few meters and just to the south of the town of Messines we began to uncover an area of the model which depicts the scene of one of the most famous incidents of the attack on the 7th of June 1917. Pte Samuel Frickleton of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade took out two enemy machine gun posts, allowing the men of his company to advance and capture part of the town, for this action he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

After much discussion, consulting of historic documents, trench maps and additional information provided by our contacts in New Zealand, including a copy of Sam Frickleton's own hand drawn map, our team narrowed down the possible points of this action and discovered a small feature in the model, which may pinpoint the location of one of the two machine gun posts.

The plaque next to Messines Church commemorating Frickleton's VC, it states

his action was  "Close to this place" have we now pinpointed the exact spot?

As we paused for lunch the clouds began to close in and the advancing waves of rain brought an end to our site work in mid afternoon, we retreated to the shelter of the tea room and continued to follow the paper trail of maps and documents to confirm our theories on the location of Frickleton's heroic action and chased tales of other individuals on the 7th of June 1917 and the landscape we hope to reveal tomorrow.