Battle Of Messines Essay

3:10 am, 7th June, zero hour of zero day where the great ‘Battle of Messines’ took place. It has been argued by many historians as the greatest battle of the Western Front during WW1. Before the 19 mines were detonated, at 2:00 am aircrafts flew over the ridge to camouflage the sound of tanks rolling into position, by 3:00 am most of the divisions had reached their attacking positions unnoticed apart from II Anzac corps area. Routine British artillery was stopped half and hour before dawn. The main event which took place during the ‘Battle of Messines’ were the 19 mine explosions before the taking of the ridge. One by one each mine was detonated, each killing hundreds of German soldiers. After the 19 mines were detonated a full counterattack

"It is the first victory for the British on the Western Front," he said. Mr Deayton added this battle was notable for New Zealanders and Tasmanians. It involved the 40th Battalion, otherwise known as the Tasmanian Battalion. "It also represents a complete revolution in the way the war was fought as it's very similar to modern-day battle," he said. Mr Deayton said the Battle of Messines saw aircraft and tanks used — both relatively new technology of the time. Which is why Messines can be seen as more important to new zealanders than british.. With Messines they also were fighting uphill and took the ridge while gaining extra territory because of how far back the Germans retreated. The Battle of Messines only took 7 days In 1917, a series of major German and Allied offensives broke the stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front, which resulted in the collapse of the German Army and the end of the war within the year. New Zealand units played an important part in the Allies' final push for victory. It can also be argued that the reason why the ‘Battle of Messines’ was so successful because of the New Zealand forces which were involved in the Battle of