A heads-up for UK rogues; some of you may already know about this, but Sommecourt (Paul Reed) is about to take part in a two part tv programme excavating the Messines tunnels and trenches from the Great War. Looks great. Episode 1 | WWI's Tunnels of Death: The Big Dig | Channel 5
[TABLE] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD]There is a Australian movie about an Australian mining engineer (Army captain) involved in the tunneling operations which faciliated a major allied victory in the trenches. It is available on Netflix Beneath Hill 60 (2010) 122 min - 6.9 Ratings: 6.9/10 from 2,929 users The extraordinary true story of Oliver Woodward. It's 1916 and Woodward must tear himself from his new young love to go to the mud and carnage of the Western Front... Director: Jeremy Sims Writer: David Roach [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
Well, the first episode was good. They uncovered a well-preserved German communications trench in advance of the utilities squad who were laying a new water main, then uncovered a German first-line trench, both complete with duckboards and wattle supports for the walls. The main trench even had a section which had been destroyed by shellfire, complete with surviving nosecone of the shell lurking underneath the wreckage. This week they'll be moving on to excavate the actual tunnels, and will be exploring a German shaft.
It certainly lived up to expectations. They uncovered an unknown German trench complete with concrete bunker, and a locker full of live stick grenades. Also found was an unknown light railway tunnel connected to the trench. At Petite Douve farm, a wartime strongpoint, they sent a camera down a counter-mining shaft dug by the Germans to kill British miners. This resulted in the only one of the British mines to be lost, and there it remains still- Farmer who is sitting on a bomb - Telegraph All-in-all, a very interesting series.
Wow incredible stuff and excellent article! I hate confined spaces and just can't imagine the bravery on both sides to fight in such a fashion - they all deserve VCs
Glad you found it of interest. It was certainly an interesting eight months covering it all. Some photos from the dig here: Messines Ep 1 - a set on Flickr Messines Ep 2 - a set on Flickr Some posts on my blog about the dig. Enjoy! Messines « Great War Photos
