Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)

Several underground explosive charges were fired during the First World War at the start of the Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917). The battle was fought by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer) and the German 4th Army (General Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin) near Mesen (Messines in French, also used in English and German) in Belgian West Flanders. The mines, secretly planted and maintained by tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers beneath the German front position, killed many German soldiers and created 19 large craters.

The explosions rank among the largest non-nuclear explosions. Before the attack, General Sir Charles Harington, Chief of Staff of the Second Army, told the press, "Gentlemen, I don't know whether we are going to make history tomorrow, but at any rate we shall change geography".^[1] The Battle of Messines marked the zenith of mine warfare. Just over two months later, on 10 August 1917, the Royal Engineers fired the last British deep mine of the war, at Givenchy-en-Gohelle near Arras.^[a]

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