EPISODE · Jul 5, 2017 · 13 MIN
From Beneath: Mines at Messines
from Voices of the First World War · host BBC Radio 4
Reaching 1917, Dan Snow explores the events of the year through the recollections of those who were there. As the fighting became more and more desperate, in the air, on the Western Front - even below ground in extensive mining operations - the morale of those being sent into battle was at times becoming dangerously low. In archive interviews survivors of the war recall their role in the attack on Messines Ridge in June 1917, which began with the devastating use of more than 20 huge mines, and the horrific destruction wreaked, both on the Germans and the landscape.
What this episode covers
Reaching 1917, Dan Snow explores the events of the year through the recollections of those who were there. As the fighting became more and more desperate, in the air, on the Western Front - even below ground in extensive mining operations - the morale of those being sent into battle was at times becoming dangerously low. In archive interviews survivors of the war recall their role in the attack on Messines Ridge in June 1917, which began with the devastating use of more than 20 huge mines, and the horrific destruction wreaked, both on the Germans and the landscape.
NOW PLAYING
From Beneath: Mines at Messines
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Mar 26, 2026 ·1m
Mar 19, 2026 ·34m
Feb 18, 2026 ·11m
Feb 11, 2026 ·45m