Captain Oliver Woodward wiped the sweat from his eyes and carefully placed the stethoscope to the clay wall in the gallery. Nothing.........the German sappers were still unaware that beneath their feet lay close to 70,000 pounds of ammonal explosive. Mining under ones enemy was not a new concept and had been a method used in siege warfare since ancient times. Now on the Western Front, it was about to enjoy a brief and violent resurgence in what was to be known as the Battle of Messines.
With a trench system stretching from the Swiss border to the North Sea, the Western Front was a static battlefield that quickly degenerated into a bloody war of attrition. Ground taken by either side could be measured in yards, not miles. The allies were desperate to break the German lines while avoiding a catastrophic loss of life like they had experiences during the Battle of the Somme in July of 1916. To this end, it was decided to dig a series of mines under the German trenches, pack them with tons of explosives, then right before the assault, detonate the mine which would create a massive crater which could then be occupied and reinforced. This was tried on July 1st, 1916 when the Hawthorne Ridge mine was detonated under a German redoubt near the village of Beaumont Hamel. Unfortunately, the mine was blown ten minutes too early before the main assault was to begin, so the Germans had enough time to occupy part of the massive crater and the assault failed.
The British, not wishing a repeat of that disaster decided to dig a series of 21 mines under the German lines in the Ypres Salient. A special unit made up of Australian miners, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company, were brought into the area to dig the mines. Largely made up of veteran miners, the Australians began to dig their way under the German lines starting in September of 1916. Working in depths of over 125 feet deep, the miners used a technique known as "clay-kicking", which was a laborious process in which the miner inserts a special tool with a cup-like end into the soil and then withdraws a sizable chunk which is then placed in a sandbag and handed off to the next man. The advantage to clay-kicking, although labor intensive, it's virtually silent which was a huge consideration when digging under the German lines. Often if a mine was discovered, the Germans would try to counter the mining operations by using a technique called "camouflets", which were small explosive charges designed to collapse the mine tunnels of the allies. On several occasions, desperate hand to hand fighting erupted in the underground galleries between the Australian and Germans.
Overall, the British had the advantage when it came to digging mines due to their experience and techniques. The could dig quickly and silently, which is something the Germans apparently could not do. By the time of the Battle of Messines on June 7th, 1917, the 22 mines were ready. As was the plan, an artillery barrage began six days earlier and continued up until 2:50 a.m. on June 7th. Two parachute flares were then fired, and the German defenders rushed back to their forward positions thinking an infantry assault was eminent. At 3:10 a.m., 19 mines were simultaneously detonated in what at the time was the greatest man-made explosion in history. The blast lit up the night sky around the Messines Ridge in what was described as a "pillar of fire". Over ten thousand German soldiers were obliterated in the explosion that could be heard and felt over 20 miles away. Some even claim the shockwave was felt as far away as London. The largest mine created a crater over 40 feet deep and over 250 feet in diameter. Surviving Germans soldiers were completely disoriented by the blast and many cried in pure terror at what they had just witnessed. Immediately after the detonations, the British artillery fire resumed in a creeping barrage that screened the advance of the infantry. By noon of that day, all the intended target of the assault had been reached and the majority of the Messiens Ridge was now in British hands. Overall, the attack into the Ypres Salient was a resounding success thanks to the tactics of using mines, artillery, tanks and infantry. As for the remaining three mines that did not go off, one was discovered by the Germans prior to the attack and dismantled, one detonated on June 17th, 1955 when lightening struck a steel pylon that had been erected over the location of the hidden mine and the one remaining mine has yet to go off although the authorities believe they have identified it's location. As for Captain Woodward, he survived the war and passed away quietly at the age of 80 in Hobart, Tasmania.
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