Messines Model on BBC West Midlands : Great War Staffordshire

Messines Model on BBC West Midlands

Monday, 21 October 2013

The Messines Model on Cannock Chase, excavated during September, will feature in the BBC West Midlands tv programme ‘Inside Out’ tonight at 7.30pm.

The dig on Cannock Chase ended a fortnight ago, and the model has now been covered up to protect it from the elements, plants and wildlife. No Mans Land, archaeologists working on behalf of Staffordshire County Council and funded by Natural England, uncovered this remarkable survival, which covers an area of more than 1,400 square metres, after a painstaking dig.

The terrain model representing the town of Messines and its surrounding landscape was built at Brocton Camp in 1918 under the supervision of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. In 1917 the Messines Ridge formed an anchor in the German front lines, but a week-long offensive comprising infantry attack, aerial bombardment and heavy shelling resulted in an Allied victory in June of that year. The battle was fought in the build-up to the much larger Passchendaele offensive, which began the following month. Following the return of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade outfit to Brocton Camp, they had the scaled replica of their sector of the battlefield built to serve as a training aid and as an act of commemoration.

The model was constructed and rendered it concrete. Depicted in the concrete are railway lines, trenches and roads; contour lines are also represented and the model was properly aligned to the compass. Owing to the scale and fragility of the model, it is believed that it could be lost in just six months if left uncovered and exposed, so reburial was regarded as the only way to protect and preserve it.

Philip Atkins, leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: ‘The excavation of the Messines model has been an amazing project, and the team has done a wonderful job in bringing it to life. However, it would be lost to the elements if we didn’t re-cover it.’