MESSINES

The Messines-Wytschaete Ridge is the most elevated section of the front line south of Ypres. The Battle of Messines Ridge marked the opening of the Allied Third Ypres campaign in July 1917. During this battle, men of the 16th Irish and 36th Ulster Divisions went over the top together and suffered heavy casualties, an event marked since 1998 by the presence of the Irish Peace Tower.

 

Mine warfare featured heavily in the battle and numerous large craters can still be seen in the surrounding farmland. The chain of mines extended as far as Hill 60, a key vantage point close to the Menin Road. South of Messines lies Ploegsteert (Plug-Street) Wood, initially intended as a refuge for resting British troops but which became in its own right a deadly killing zone as evidenced by a dozen or so CWGC cemeteries and a large British Memorial to the Missing. Remarkably, both Churchill and Hitler served in this area in 1915.