Originally posted by Mike Cash Doesn't a small amount of WWI ordnance turn up each year in some parts of Europe? Or is that pretty much gone by now?
I remember reading about a major sapping operation in which tunnels were dug over to the German lines, absolutely humongous amounts of explosives placed in several locations along the line, and exploded in conjunction with an infantry assault. Reportedly, one of the caches of explosives failed to detonate and nobody is sure exactly where it is.
Mike,
I think you may be referring mines laid by the British prior to the Battle of Messines (1917) near the village of Messen in West Flanders Belgium. Vast amounts of ammonal explosive (455 tonnes) were buried under the German trenches.
Seems the detonation of the mines was disastrous for the Germans. The explosion dramatically altered the geography of the ridge. More importantly "with approximately 10,000 killed, the Messines detonation is history's deadliest non-nuclear man-made explosion."
It appears all but 2 of the 21 mines detonated with one exploding in 1955. Fortunately, only a cow was killed at that time. According to the Wikipedia article "The 21st mine—the mine abandoned as a result of its discovery by German counter-miners—is believed to have been found but no attempt has been made to remove it."
Let's hope this final mine has lost its ginger after almost 100 years
Tom G