Messines
The Battle of Messines began on 7 June 1917 when the British Second Army under the command of General Herbert Plumer launched an offensive near the village of Mesen (Messines) in West Flanders, Belgium. The target of the offensive was a ridge running north from Messines village past Wytschaete village which created a natural stronghold southeast of Ypres. One of the key features of the battle was the detonation of 19 mines immediately prior to the infantry assault, a tactic which disrupted German defences and allowed the advancing troops to secure their objectives in rapid fashion. The attack was also a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, which began on 11 July 1917.
The New Zealand Battle Memorial for 1917 on the Messines Ridge taken September 29, 1918 by the 30th, 31st and 34th Divisions.
Returning with my students in 2013. The Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial to the Missing is situated within Messines Ridge British Cemetery about five miles south of Ypres. Messines was considered a strong strategic position, not only from its height above the plain below, but from the extensive system of cellars under the convent known as the 'Institution Royale'. The village was taken from the 1st Cavalry Division by the German 26th Division on 31 October-1 November 1914. An attack by French troops on 6 -7 November was unsuccessful and it was not until the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917 that it was retaken by the New Zealand Division. On 10-11 April 1918, the village fell into German hands once more after a stubborn defence by the South African Brigade, but was retaken for the last time on 28-29 September 1918. This monument stands within Messines Ridge British Cemetery and commemorates over 800 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918 and who have no known grave. It is one of seven memorials in France and Belgium to those New Zealand soldiers who died on the Western Front and whose graves are not known all of which are found in cemeteries chosen as appropriate to the fighting in which the men died.
This is a small sample of the video clips showing views of the NZ Memorial, Messines Ridge, Belgium taken from the Video History Today database.
Overlooking the German positions taken by NZ troops to reach the ridge.
The same view in 1919 showing Irish Farm from the Rossignol Hill 63
Returning with my students in 2013
Hitler's painting of the church during the war
Standing inside the crypt where Hitler had been billeted.
At the entrance surmounted by the Cross of Sacrifice is this memorial dedicated to the officers and men of the New Zealand Division and their part in the battles on the Messines Ridge in June 1917. The memorial, designed by Charles Holden, is located on the south-western edge of Messines village, on the Rue des Neo-Zeelandais. It lists 827 officers and men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force with no known grave who died in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918. The land on which the cemetery and memorial were constructed had been the site of a mill (the Moulin d'Hospice) belonging to the Institute Royal de Messines (a Belgian orphanage and school, itself formerly a Benedictine abbey). The mill dated from 1445, but was destroyed during the war, with the memorial erected where the mill once stood. Messines was taken from the 1st Cavalry Division by the German 26th Division on 31 October-1 November 1914 and it was not until the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917 that it was retaken by the New Zealand Division. On 10–11 April 1918, the village fell into German hands once more after a stubborn defence by the South African Brigade, but was retaken for the last time on 28–29 September 1918. The inscription at the centre of the memorial reads
The body of a soldier thought to have been killed on June 7, 1917, during the New Zealand Division's capture of Messines and discovered during excavations of a pipeline in Messines in April 2012 is reburied February 25, 2013. His coffin was draped with the New Zealand flag and a
soldier's hat as a guard of honour from Ypres Barracks fired
three volleys as the Last Post and Reveille played followed by the New Zealand national anthem, sung by Kiwi soprano
Carleen Ebbs. A metal shoulder badge NZR (New
Zealand Rifles), a belt buckle and gas iodine capsules were found close
to his remains.
Overlooking the German positions taken by NZ troops to reach the ridge.
Messines Church
Memorial plaque commemorating Samuel Frickleton, VC who, following
the outbreak of the First World War, joined the New Zealand Military
Forces in February 1915 and embarked for the Middle East with the 5th
Reinforcements with the rank of corporal in the Canterbury Battalion.
After arriving in Egypt in June, he became ill and was repatriated back
to New Zealand and subsequently discharged as medically unfit for active
service. After a period of convalescence, he re-enlisted for the NZEF
in 1916. By March 1917, he had been promoted to corporal. On 7 June
1917, Frickleton participated in the Battle of Messines. His battalion
was attacking the edge of Messines village when it was slowed by two
machine gun posts. He was awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions
in dealing with these posts. The citation for his VC read as
follows:
For most conspicuous bravery and determination when with attacking troops, which came under heavy fire and were checked. Although slightly wounded, Lance Corporal Frickleton dashed forward at the head of his section, rushed through a barrage and personally destroyed with bombs an enemy machine gun and crew, which were causing heavy casualties. He then attacked the second gun, killing the whole of the crew of twelve. By the destruction of these two guns he undoubtedly saved his own and other units from very severe casualties and his magnificent courage and gallantry ensured the capture of the objective. During the consolidation of the position he suffered a second severe wound. He set, throughout, a great example of heroism. —London Gazette, No. 30215, 2 August 1917.
Frickleton was
wounded in the arm and hip and was badly gassed, which would affect his
health for the remainder of his life. Evacuated to England for medical
treatment, he was presented with his VC by King George V on 17 September
1917, in a ceremony at Glasgow. By then he was an acting sergeant,
which was confirmed later that year. After a period of further
hospitalisation, he was selected for and underwent officer training. He
was commissioned as a second lieutenant in March 1918 and returned to
the Rifle Brigade. However, his health problems persisted and he was
repatriated to New Zealand in June 1918. He was accorded a hero's
welcome and a reception was held at the Auckland Town Hall in his
honour. He would spend the remainder of the year under medical care. He
was discharged from the NZEF in December 1918.
Hitler's painting of the church during the war
Standing inside the crypt where Hitler had been billeted.
Here are recorded the names of officers and men of NEW ZEALAND who fell in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918 and whose graves are known only to GodThe names are shown on the walls to the right and left of the central inscription.
Footage of the ceremony
New Zealand Division Memorial, Longueval
The NZ Memorial in Longueval France is dedicated to the New Zealand Division who took part in the first Battle of the Somme in 1916.
The NZ Memorial is located in isolation in the middle of fields to the north of the village of Longueval and west of Flers.
The NZ Memorial is located in isolation in the middle of fields to the north of the village of Longueval and west of Flers.
A long contemplative drive to the memorial on a beautiful sunny summer day.
This stands on what had been known as Switch Trench on the junction of the present roads from Longueval to Flers and to Courcelette between Delville and High Woods. It commemorates the attack which started on September 15, 1916 and lasted 23 days. It takes the usual New Zealand form of a column standing on a projecting base in which are four panels. On the front of the column itself are engraved the words "In Honour of the men of the New Zealand Division. First Battle of the Somme, 1916" and the same is engraved in French at the back of the column. Like the obelisks at Messines and 's-Graventafel it is made of Nebrasina stone from Italy with the inscription ‘From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth’ on a plinth at their base as well as a badge incorporating a fern leaf superimposed on crossed taiaha with a frame of Maori carving surrounding the words "New Zealand". On the back panel are engraved the words "New Zealand Division, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago."
On one side panel is engraved the following sentence: "The New Zealand Division, after gaining this position as their first objective, launched from it the successful attack on Flers, 15th September, 1916" and these words are reproduced in French on the other side panel.
's-Graventafel New Zealand Memorial
Heading towards the New Zealand Monument on the left is the remains of this German dugout.
Signposts to hell- the left directing one to Langemark, the other to Passchendaele.The memorials here and at Messines and Longueval are obelisks of Nebrasina stone from Italy with the inscription ‘From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth’ on a plinth at their base as well as a badge incorporating a fern leaf superimposed on crossed taiaha with a frame of Maori carving.
Montauban
Montauban is located on the D64 road, some 20 miles northeast of Amiens. It lay close behind the German front-line and was turned into a fortified strongpoint. On July 1, 1916, the village was seized by the British 30th Division in
Buttes New British Cemetery with its 2,103 graves (only 428 of which are identified) where one finds the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing: 
Inscribed on one of the graves of an Australian lieutenant is
I am all right, mother. Cheerio.
Rue des Berceaux CWGC
At the outbreak of World War I on the advice of Winston Churchill, Tony Wilding joined the Royal Marines, serving as a Captain with the Armoured Car Division in the battlefields of France.
In his last letter dated 8 May he wrote "For really the first time in seven and a half months I have a job on hand which is likely to end in gun, I, and the whole outfit being blown to hell. However if we succeed we will help our infantry no end." The next day, 9 May, he was killed in action at 16.45 in the afternoon during the Battle of Aubers Ridge at Neuve-Chapelle when a shell exploded on the roof of the dug-out he was sheltering in. He was buried the next day at the front but was later reinterred at the Rue-des-Berceaux Military Cemetery in Richebourg-L'Avoue, Pas-de-Calais, France. He had been dating and was about to marry Broadway star Maxine Elliott. In 1978, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Wilding Park, the principal venue for tennis in Christchurch, New Zealand, was named after his father, Frederick, but in the public perception became associated with him.The New Zealand Post issued a stamp of Anthony Wilding in 1992 as part of the Health Stamps series to support children with emotional and behavioural problems.
Westhof Farm CWGC
Westhof Farm is set on an incline and was used by the New Zealand Division as its headquarters in May and June 1917.
Five German graves in total stand next to those of the Commonwealth.
