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The First World War - 1917

The Battle of Massines

With the the German's front line dominating the French positions and having the French severely weakened by earlier German offensives, it was imperative to redress the balance and ease the pressure on the beleaguered Allied forces. Douglas Haig decided to launch another great offensive against the Germans, which Haig hoped would solve the problems posed in the Ypres salient. In order to achieve this goal he had to pass Massines ridge, which was in control by the Germans.

Massines was heavily guarded and a frontal attack would inevitably lead to very high casualties. The solution was to lay one million pounds worth of explosives under the Germans front line. General Plumer and numerous tunneling companies coordinated the bomb laying. Tunnels were dug up to 2,000 feet in length in order to lay 19 huge explosives up to 100 feet in depth.

The first bombardment was launched at the end of May and by the time the main attack commenced, in June, about 4 million shells had been fired. When the mines were finally detonated the explosion could be heard clearly in London, 130 miles away! The German Army lost 10,000 men in the result of the detonations.

The Battle of Massines was written by Murtazah Shah, a Year 9 student at Laisterdyke High School, Bradford.

Life in the trenches and the experiences of several young men who fought in the war can be heard via this BBC page.