Mines on the first day of the Somme

Main article: First day on the Somme

The 19 mines on the first day of the Somme were mines of varying sizes dug by tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers under the German lines on the Western Front during the First World War. The group consisted of eight large and eleven small charges which were detonated in the morning of 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November 1916). The joint explosion of the mines on the first day of the Battle of the Somme ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions. The most important of the 19 mines were beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt at Beaumont-Hamel, beneath a German field fortification known as Schwabenhöhe just south of La Boisselle and three in a sector named The Tambour opposite Fricourt.

The 19 mines prepared for the first day of the Somme can be grouped into the large charge beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt at Beaumont-Hamel, the large Lochnagar and Y Sap mines and small Glory Hole charges placed near La Boisselle, the three large Triple Tambour charges opposite Fricourt and the two large Bulgar Point and Kasino Point mines and nine small charges further south. Brigadier Sir James Edmonds wrote in 1932 that "Lack of manpower prevented more being undertaken." and in 2007 Sir Martin Gilbert wrote that although fewer mines than planned had been completed, "... it was a formidable enterprise". The time, the Lochnagar and Hawthorn Ridge mines were the largest ever detonated and the sound of the blast was considered the loudest man-made noise in history. Reports suggested that the sound was heard in London and beyond. The mine detonations on the first day of the Somme were surpassed on 7 June 1917, by the mines in the Battle of Messines (7–14 June).

Background

Main article: Battle of the Somme

1914

French and German military operations began on the Somme in September 1914 and after attempts to resume offensive warfare in October, both sides fortified defensive lines and reduced their attacks to local operations and raids. At La Boisselle, a French attack on 17 December 1914 captured the village cemetery, which was at the west end of a German salient. The French had sapped forward for several weeks and a shortage of artillery ammunition had left the Germans unable to stop French progress. When the attack came the French were only 15 metres (16 yd) from the German front line and then established an advanced post only 3 metres (3.3 yd) away. The French attacks forced the Germans back from the cemetery and the Granathof by 24 December, against which German counter-attacks on 26 December failed.

1915

File:Mine at Leadfield.JPG

A mine gallery with timber roof support (Canada 2003)

On the night of 8/9 March, a German sapper at La Boisselle inadvertently broke into a French mine gallery, which was found to have been charged with explosives; a group of volunteers took 45 nerve racking minutes to dismantle the charge and cut the firing cables. From April 1915 – January 1916, 61 mines were sprung around the Granathof, some loaded with 20,000–25,000 kilograms (44,000–55,000 lb) of explosives.

The French mine workings were taken over when the British moved into the Somme front. On 24 July 1915, the 174th Tunnelling Company established its headquarters at Bray, taking over some 66 shafts at Carnoy, Fricourt, Maricourt and La Boisselle. No man's land, just south-west of La Boisselle was very narrow, at one point about 50 yards (46 m) wide and had become pockmarked by many chalk craters. Elaborate precautions were taken to preserve secrecy, since no continuous front line trench ran through the area opposite the west end of La Boisselle and the British front line. The area was known to the British as the "Glory Hole" (see map) and was defended by posts near the mine shafts. The underground war continued with offensive mining to destroy the opponents' strong points and defensive mining to destroy tunnels, which were 30–120 feet (9.1–36.6 m) long. Around La Boisselle, the Germans dug defensive transverse tunnels about 80 feet (24 m) long, parallel to the front line. On 19 November 1915, the 179th Tunnelling Company commander, Captain Henry Hance, estimated that the Germans were 15 yards (14 m) away and ordered the mine chamber to be loaded with 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lb) of explosives, which was completed by midnight on 20/21 November. At 1:30 a.m., the Germans blew the charge, filling the remaining British tunnels with carbon monoxide. The right and left tunnels collapsed and it was later found that the German explosion had detonated the British charge.

Prelude

VII Corps

In the northern-most sector of the British front line, which was allocated to VII Corps in front of Gommecourt, no mines were prepared by the Royal Engineers for the offensive on 1 July 1916. The British Army would use the neighbouring villages of Hebuterne and Foncquevillers as bases for the assault on Gommecourt, resulting in a severe defeat for the attacking force.

VIII Corps

See also: Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt

File:Ancre sector 1 July 1916.png

Map of Hawthorn Ridge with crater at top left

In the British front sector allocated to VIII Corps at Beaumont-Hamel, three tunnels were dug under no man's land, one to be a communication trench to the sunken lane and two dug to within 30 yards (27 m) of the German front line at the Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt, ready to be opened at 2:00 a.m. on 1 July 1916, as emplacements for batteries of Stokes mortars. The 252nd Tunnelling Company dug a gallery for about 1,000 yards (910 m) from the British lines about 57 feet (17 m) underground beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt on the crest of the ridge and charged it with 40,000-pound (18,000 kg) of Ammonal. The corps commander, Lieutenant-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston wanted the mine to be sprung four hours before zero hour, so that the crater could be captured and consolidated and the alarm on the German side would have died down. On 15 June 1916, the Fourth Army headquarters ruled that all mines should be blown no later than eight minutes before zero but an unsatisfactory compromise was reached with Hunter-Weston to blow the Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt mine ten minutes before zero hour.

X Corps

Map of Thiepval, with Schwaben Redoubt at centre right.

See also: Capture of Schwaben Redoubt and Leipzig salient

In the British front sector allocated to X Corps at Thiepval, no mines were prepared by the Royal Engineers for the offensive on 1 July 1916.

III Corps

See also: Capture of La Boisselle and Lochnagar mine

Map of La Boisselle with British movements on 1 July 1916

In the British front sector allocated to III Corps at La Boisselle, the mines were planted at the end of galleries dug by the 179th Tunnelling Company RE, on either side of the salient around La Boisselle and were intended to destroy German positions and create crater lips, to block German enfilade fire along no man's land. On 4 February, 18 British soldiers were killed when the Germans detonated a camouflet near the British three-level mine system, starting from Inch Street, La Boisselle, the deepest level being just above the water table at around 100 feet (30 m). The Germans had fortified the cellars of ruined houses and cratered ground made a direct assault on the village impossible. To assist the attack, the British placed two mines, known as Y Sap and Lochnagar, on either flank. The Y Sap mine was located to the north of La Boisselle, and the Lochnagar mine to the south. (see map).

The 185th Tunnelling Company started work on the Lochnagar mine on 11 November 1915 and handed the tunnels over to 179th Tunnelling Company in March 1916. On 4 February 1916, eighteen men of the 185th Tunnelling Company (2 officers, 16 sappers) lost their lives to a German camouflet at La Boisselle. Other tunnelling units involved in the Battle of the Somme were the 174th, 178th, 181st, 183rd and 252nd Tunnelling companies. The Lochnagar mine consisted of two chambers with a shared access tunnel (see map). The shaft was sunk in the communication trench called Lochnagar Street. It was probably the first deep incline shaft, which sloped from 1:2–1:3, to a depth of about 95 feet (29 m). It was begun 300 feet (91 m) behind the British front line and 900 feet (270 m) away from the German front line. In the inclined shaft, about 50 feet (15 m) below ground, a gallery was driven towards the German lines.

File:Chalk areas, northern France.jpg

Map of chalk areas in northern France

File:Geological cross-section Somme area.jpg

Geological cross-section of the Somme battlefield

Map of the Lochnagar mine

For silence, the tunnellers used bayonets with spliced handles and worked barefoot on a floor covered with sandbags. Flints were carefully prised out of the chalk and laid on the floor; if the bayonet was manipulated two-handed, an assistant caught the dislodged material. Spoil was placed in sandbags and passed hand-by-hand, along a row of miners sitting on the floor and stored along the side of the tunnel, later to be used to tamp the charge. The tunnellers also dug a gallery across no man's land to a point close to the Lochnagar mine. When about 135 feet (41 m) from the Schwabenhöhe, the tunnel was forked into two branches and the end of each branch was enlarged to form a chamber for the explosives, the chambers being about 60 feet (18 m) apart and 52 feet (16 m) deep. When finished, the access tunnel for the Lochnagar mine was 4.5 by 2.5 feet (1.37 m × 0.76 m) and had been excavated at a rate of about 18 inches (46 cm) per day, until about 1,030 feet (310 m) long, with the galleries beneath the Schwabenhöhe. The mine was loaded with 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg) of Ammonal, divided in two charges of 36,000 pounds (16,000 kg) and 24,000 pounds (11,000 kg). As the chambers were not big enough to hold all the explosives, the tunnels that branched to form the 'Y' were also filled with explosives. The longer branch was 60 feet (18 m) long, the shorter was 40 feet (12 m) long. The tunnels did not quite reach the German front line but the blast dislodged enough material to form a 15 feet (4.6 m) high rim and bury nearby trenches.

The tunnel for the Y Sap mine underneath the German trenches overlooking Mash Valley just north of La Boisselle (see here) started in the British front line near where it crossed the Albert to Bapume road, but because of German underground defences it could not be dug in a straight line. About 500 yards (460 m) were dug into no man's land, before it turned right for about another 500 yards (460 m). About 40,000 pounds (18,000 kg) of Ammonal was placed in the chamber beneath the Y Sap mine. The Lochnagar and the Y Sap mines were overcharged to ensure that large rims were formed from the disturbed ground. Two smaller mines of 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) each, were planted from galleries dug from Inch Street Trench, intended to wreck German tunnels. Communication tunnels were also dug for use immediately after the first attack but were little used in the end. The mines were laid without interference by German miners but as the explosives were placed, German miners could be heard below Lochnagar and above the Y Sap mine.

XV Corps

See also: Capture of Fricourt

In the British front sector allocated to XV Corps at Fricourt, the tunnellers placed a group of mines known as Triple Tambour below the German lines. As in most other sites along the Western Front, military mining in the Tambour area had started well before July 1916; the French had carried out some mining operations here when they held this sector of the line, and British tunnellers began working there on mines as early as August 1915.

The three Tambour mines were loaded with relatively small charges of 4,100 kilograms (9,000 lb), 6,800 kilograms (15,000 lb) and 11,000 kilograms (25,000 lb) which were detonated just before the infantry advanced on the first day of the Somme; one failed to explode. The site of these mines (photo) now appears as a small area of cratered ground in the field beyond the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Fricourt New Military Cemetery. The land they are on is private property.

In the front sector allocated to XV Corps near Mametz, Bulgar Point was mined with a 2,000 pounds (910 kg) charge, a sap further west was mined with a 200 pounds (91 kg) charge. Six other mines in the Mametz sector had charges of 500 pounds (230 kg) each, four of which were planted by the British tunnellers south of Hidden Wood.

XIII Corps

See also: Capture of Montauban

In the southern-most sector of the British front line, which was allocated to XIII Corps in front of Carnoy near the Carnoy–Montauban road, mine warfare had been conducted by both sides during May. A 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) mine was prepared under a German salient at Kasino Point and a 500 pounds (230 kg) mine was prepared on the extreme left flank, intended to collapse German dug outs and destroy machine-gun nests. (In 1971, Middlebrook wrote that the Kasino Point Salient was between Mametz, Carnoy and Montauban and the mine planted there was one of seven large mines that were due to be detonated at on 1 July.) During tunnelling at Kasino Point, the British broke into a German dugout but were able to cover it up, before the breach was noticed. (J. E. Edmonds, the official historian, wrote in 1932, that this incident occurred during the digging of Russian saps rather than the Kasino Point mine.)

Battle

1 July 1916

Main articles: First day on the Somme and Battle of Albert (1916)

The explosion of the mine under Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt, 1 July 1916 (Photo 1 by Ernest Brooks)

British aerial photograph showing the Lochnagar Crater and trenches

The mines were detonated by the Royal Engineers in the morning of 1 July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of Albert (1–13 July), the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. Nine corps of the French Sixth Army, the British Fourth and Third armies, attacked the German 2nd Army (General Fritz von Below), from Foucaucourt south of the Somme northwards to Serre, north of the Ancre and at Gommecourt, which was 2 miles (3.2 km) beyond, in the Third Army area. The objective of the attack was to capture the German first and second positions from Serre south to the Albert–Bapaume road and the first position from the road south to Foucaucourt.

Troops passing the Lochnagar Crater, October 1916

The Hawthorn Ridge mine was detonated at 7:20 a.m.. The explosion was filmed by British cinematographer Geoffrey Malins who had his camera set up about 0.5-mile (0.80 km) away. A frame from the film became one of the iconic photographs of the first day of the battle. As soon as the mine blew, the heavy artillery bombardment on the German front line lifted and Stokes mortars began a hurricane bombardment on the front trench. British troops rushed the crater where they were engaged by machine-gun and rifle fire from the far lip and the flanks. Three sections of German infantry (about thirty men) of the 9th Company were killed in the mine explosion and ​1 ¹⁄₂ platoons were trapped in their Unterstände (underground shelters), from which only two sections escaped. The rest of the company in a Stollen (deep-mined dug-out) survived but the entrances were blocked and the troops inside were not rescued until after the British attack. By 8:30 a.m., the only ground held by the 29th Division was the western lip of the crater. A German counter-attack by two platoons, bombed towards the crater from shell-hole to shell-hole and forced the survivors to retire to the British front line. Reserve Infantry Regiment 119 had 292 casualties, most suffered in the mine explosion beneath the redoubt. Casualties in the 86th Brigade were 1,969, of whom 613 were killed and 81 were reported missing.

Eight minutes after the explosion of the Hawthorn Ridge mine, the Lochnagar mine was detonated at 7:28 a.m., along with the other mines prepared for the First day of the Somme. The explosion of the Lochnagar mine was initiated by Captain James Young of the 179th Tunnelling Company, who pressed the switches and observed that the firing had been successful. The two charges of the Lochnagar mine obliterated 300–400 feet (91–122 m) of German fortifications, including nine dug-outs and the men inside them. Earth was thrown 4,000 feet (1,200 m) into the air. Most of the 5th Company of Reserve Infantry Regiment 110 and the trenches nearby were destroyed. The Lochnagar mine lay on the sector assaulted by the Grimsby Chums, a Pals battalion (10th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment). When the main attack began at 7:30 a.m., the Grimsby Chums occupied the crater and began to fortify the eastern lip, which dominated the vicinity and the advance continued to the Grüne Stellung (second position), where it was stopped by the German 4th Company, which then counter-attacked and forced the British back to the crater.

Though the mines on the British front were to be blown at 7:28 a.m. (the only exception being that at Hawthorn Ridge), the Kasino Point mine was late, because the officer in charge hesitated when he saw that British troops had left their trenches and begun to advance across no man's land. The German machine-gunners at the point opened fire and inflicted many casualties, so the officer detonated the mine which, instead of exploding upwards, sent debris outwards over wide area, causing casualties among at least four British battalions, as well as obliterating several German machine-gun nests. A witness wrote later

I looked left to see if my men were keeping a straight line. I saw a sight I shall never forget. A giant fountain, rising from our line of men, about 100 yards from me. Still on the move I stared at this, not realizing what it was. It rose, a great column nearly as high as Nelson's Column, then slowly toppled over. Before I could think, I saw huge slabs of earth and chalk thudding down, some with flames attached, onto the troops as they advanced.

— L/Cpl E. J. Fisher, 10th Essex

but the late detonation surprised and demoralised the Germans, whose fire diminished and the British swept over the German front trenches, making it the most successful mine detonation of 1 July. While the British mines on the first day of the Somme were an undoubted success for the tunellers who had built and maintained them, their value for the advancing infantry was questioned,

The nineteen mine craters, in which so many soldiers were trapped and killed by the German machine-gunners, became a hated feature of the battlefield.

— Martin Gilbert, 2007

The blowing of the Lochnagar, Y Sap and Glory Hole mines at La Boiselle was witnessed by pilots who where flying over the battlefield to report back on British troop movements. Cecil Lewis, described the early morning scene in Sagittarius Rising (1936), "We were to watch the opening of the attack, coordinate the infantry flare (the job we have been rehearsing for months) and stay over the lines for two and a half hours". It had been arranged that continuous overlapping patrols would fly throughout the day. Lewis' patrol was ordered to avoid La Boiselle, because of the mines that were to be blown. As he watched from above the village of Thiepval, almost two miles from where the mines exploded, Lewis saw that "At Boiselle the earth heaved and flashed",

... a tremendous and magnificent column rose up into the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar, drowning all the guns flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earthly column rose, higher and higher to almost four thousand feet.

— Cecil Lewis

The aircraft was hit by lumps of mud thrown up by the explosion.

Aftermath

The Lochnagar crater in 2005

William Orpen, an official war artist, saw the Lochnagar mine crater in 1916 while touring the Somme battlefield, collecting subjects for paintings and described a wilderness of chalk dotted with shrapnel. John Masefield also toured the Somme, while preparing The Old Front Line (1917), in which he also described the area around the Lochnagar crater as dazzlingly white and painful to look at. The land around the Lochnagar crater was eventually purchased by an Englishman, Richard Dunning, to ensure its preservation after he read The Old Front Line and was inspired to buy a section of the former front line. The site attracts about 200,000 visitors a year and there is an annual memorial service on 1 July, to commemorate the detonation of the mine and the British, French and German war dead.

List of the mines

British mines, Battle of the Somme, July 1916

No. Location Name Explosive charge Tunnel length Depth Fate Notes 1 Beaumont-Hamel Hawthorn Ridge 18,400 kilograms (40,600 lb) 1,000 yards (910 m) 57 feet (17 m) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to VIII Corps. 2 La Boisselle Y Sap 18,000 kilograms (40,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Placed to the north of La Boisselle (see map) and located in the front sector allocated to III Corps (see Capture of La Boisselle). 3 La Boisselle No 2 straight 3,600 kilograms (8,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 One of the two charges at La Boisselle known as the Glory Hole mines, placed from galleries dug from Inch Street Trench. They were intended to wreck German tunnels and located in the front sector allocated to III Corps (see Capture of La Boisselle). 4 La Boisselle No 5 right 3,600 kilograms (8,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 One of the two charges at La Boisselle known as the Glory Hole mines, placed from galleries dug from Inch Street Trench. They were intended to wreck German tunnels and located in the front sector allocated to III Corps (see Capture of La Boisselle). 5 La Boisselle Lochnagar 27,000 kilograms (60,000 lb) 1,030 feet (310 m) 52 feet (16 m) fired on 1 July 1916 The mine consisted of two chambers with a shared gallery (see plan). It was placed beneath the Schwabenhöhe to the south of La Boisselle (see map). Building began 11 November 1915. It was located in the front sector allocated to III Corps (see Capture of La Boisselle). 6 Fricourt G3 4,100 kilograms (9,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Part of the mine group known as Triple Tambour placed at Fricourt, in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Fricourt). One of the Tambour mines failed to explode. 7 Fricourt G15 6,800 kilograms (15,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Part of the mine group known as Triple Tambour placed at Fricourt, in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Fricourt). One of the Tambour mines failed to explode. 8 Fricourt G19 11,000 kilograms (25,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Part of the mine group known as Triple Tambour placed at Fricourt, in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Fricourt). One of the Tambour mines failed to explode. 9 Mametz West C2 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 10 Mametz West No 15 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 11 Mametz West No 15.1 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 12 Mametz West No 14.1 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 13 Mametz East No 13 91 kilograms (200 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 14 Mametz East No 12 910 kilograms (2,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Also known as the Bulgar Point mine and located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 15 Mametz East No 2.3 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 16 Mametz East No 1.3 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XV Corps (see Capture of Mametz). 17 Carnoy No 11 2,300 kilograms (5,000 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Also known as the Kasino Point mine; located in the front sector allocated to XIII Corps (see Capture of Montauban). The mine was mistimed and blew after the infantry attack had commenced. 18 Carnoy No 7 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XIII Corps (see Capture of Montauban). 19 Carnoy No 10.3 230 kilograms (500 lb) fired on 1 July 1916 Located in the front sector allocated to XIII Corps (see Capture of Montauban).

Gallery

• 

  The explosion of the mine under Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt I, 1 July 1916 (Photo by Ernest Brooks)
• Hawthorn crater Somme Nov 1916 IWM Q 1527.jpg

  Hawthorn Ridge mine crater, Somme, November 1916 (IWM Q 1527)
• 

  La Boisselle mine crater, August 1916 (IWM Q 912)
• 

  Orpen: Mines and the Bapaume Road, La Boisselle (Art.IWMART2962)

References

Books

Journals

Websites

External links

• Tunnelling companies RE
• La Boisselle Study Group
• 'Born Fighters: Who were the Tunnellers?' Conference paper by Simon Jones.