Archaeologists who analysed the crater that can still be seen today found German forces used it as a defensive position in the First World War. The detonation of the mine at Hawthorn Ridge was later described as a “colossal blunder”.
It alerted the Germans to the first Somme infantry attack 10 minutes before it began on July 1, 1916.
Now new evidence reinforces the theory that the crater helped German forces gain an advanced position in No Man’s Land as they incorporated it into their frontline.
The study offers a fresh insight into the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in which more than 300,000 soldiers were killed.
The spectacular explosion of the mine at Hawthorn Ridge – a fortified, German position – marked the beginning of the five-month battle.
The blast was captured on film by director Geoffrey Malins in one of the best-known pieces of footage from the war. More than 60ft below the surface, British miners had dug a hole 900 yards from their lines and packed it with 40,000lb of explosives.
It was one of 19 mines placed beneath German frontline positions and detonated to mark the start
of the offensive.
Researchers, using drones with imaging cameras, discovered and excavated two sections of trenches highlighting how the German infantry successfully incorporated the crater rim into their frontline following the blast. Researchers also recovered what is thought to be communication wire and German barbed wire.
And they found evidence of a shallow tunnel believed to have been dug out from the crater by German forces to provide an advanced position in No Man’s Land.
Professor Peter Doyle, a military historian at Goldsmiths, University of London, who was part of the team led by Keele University, said: “The Germans had quickly mastered the art of capturing craters and used this to their advantage.
“Though they lost many men in the initial blast, the crater became a part of the German frontline, meaning
the chance to break through the line here was lost.
“Our study has provided new evidence of the strongpoint the Germans built from the captured crater in No Man’s Land that doomed the British attack to failure.
“This reinforces the idea that blowing the mine 10 minutes early, to give the earth time to settle, was a very bad idea.”
The study was published in the Journal of Conflict Archaeology.
