Messines 1917: The zenith of siege warfare [Paperback]

While the bloodbath resulting from the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 is fairly well known among readers interested in the First World War, the Battle of Messines that preceded it in June 1917 is much less well known. Messines was an unusual set-piece attack in the First World War, which quickly achieved its objectives and with modest casualties. The British offensive was preceded by a year-long effort - described as the greatest feat of military engineering in history - to dig numerous mines underneath the German defenses atop Messines ridge. When the attack began on 7 June 1917, nineteen of these mines were detonated nearly simultaneously, resulting in the virtual obliteration of the enemy's frontline positions. Alexander Turner, a serving infantry major in the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, provides an in-depth look at the British attack on Messines Ridge in Osprey's Campaign No. 225. This book is structured differently from most in the Campaign series in that half the volume concerns the preparatory phase prior to the battle yet overall, it accomplishes its objectives quite well. Although the author cites no German sources beyond their official history, he provides enough commentary on their actions to impart reasonable balance into his narrative. It is a coherent and well-written piece of military history.

Messines 1917 begins with a fairly in-depth introduction, that describes the origins of the campaign and the creation of the Ypres salient in western Belgium. He also provides the standard section on opposing commanders and opposing plans. In essence, the British expected to seize the vital Messines Ridge in a coup de main assault, facilitated by underground mine detonations, in order to prepare the way for the larger breakout from the Ypres salient. Today, this would probably be described as a shaping operation, designed to seize jump-off positions for the main offensive. The author spends considerable space describing the evolution of underground warfare in the salient and the remarkable success that Allied engineering companies had in constructing a large number of tunnels underneath the German positions. This was one of the rare cases in the First World War where the Allies really caught the Germans by surprise and the Germans failed to react in time. Much of this part of the volume is quite interesting reading, but some of it might better belong in an Osprey elite volume on WW1 tunneling tactics.

The battle per se does not begin until half way through the volume and the bulk of it focuses on the actions on 7 June. The mine attack, combined with a well-planned artillery preparation, succeeded in demolishing the frontline German defenses and the British and ANZAC troops were able to seize most of their objectives with relative ease. Less space is devoted to the sluggish German reaction and the breakdown in British C2 with threatened the final exploitation phase of the attack (including shelling their own troops) . The author does conclude that British Field Marshal Haig misinterpreted the lessons of Messines Ridge and used them poorly in the Third Ypres offensive. It's hard not to regard Messines as something of a tactical aberration, with an unusual mining effort, combined with an unusually lax German commander to produce an unusual tactical success.

The volume includes six 2-D maps (The Western Front in June 1917; the Ypres salient; Messines mines schematic; Messines operational objectives; II ANZAC Operations, 8-11 June; final positions at Messines and Third Ypres in Comparison) and two 3-D BEV maps (the battle, 0310 to 0900 hours on 7 June 1917; the battle 0900 to 1900 hours on 7 June). Overall, the maps are quite nice and enable the reader to follow most actions quite carefully. The three battle scenes (the war underground; Pillars of Fire - the advance at Petit Bois; pillbox fighting) by Peter Dennis are superb, as usual, and help to convey the unique `feel' of this battle. The author also provides a 3-page chronology and a 3-page order of battle, as well as brief notes on the battlefield today.

A very enjoyable book on an underdone topic. This campaign reminded me of the Crater Campaign in the Civil War. The author gives a great build up to the massive explosion but the aftermath is a bit confusing.

Great book on a little understood episode in ww1. Rare photos used throughout, including a few interesting before/after shots of the battlefield.

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