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In autumn of 1915, 172nd
Tunnelling Company managed to sink shafts through the sandy clay at a depth of 7.0 metres (23 ft) down to dry blue clay at a depth of 13 metres (43 ft), which was ideal for tunneling, from where they continued to drive galleries towards the German lines at a depth
209:, 14–15 March 1915), in which units of the British 27th Division participated, the British infantry suffered some 500 casualties. A month later, on 14 April 1915, the Germans fired another mine producing a crater over 20 m (66 ft) in diameter. Counter-mining by the
492:
229:
of 18 metres (60 ft). This constituted a major achievement in mining technique and gave the Royal
Engineers a significant advantage over their German counterparts. After German successes at The Bluff, the British decided to use the deep mines created by
458:
434:
237:, 27 March – 16 April 1916) and six charges were fired. However, the accompanying British infantry operation was a failure; the problem lay in the Allied inability to hold crater positions after they had been captured. The Canadian
351:
On a small square in the centre of Sint-Elooi stands the 'Monument to the St Eloi
Tunnellers' which was unveiled on 11 November 2001. The brick plinth bears transparent plaques with details of the mining activities by
422:
878:. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I (Imperial War Museum and Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan.
225:. The geology of the Ypres Salient featured a characteristic layer of sandy clay, which put very heavy pressures of water and wet sand on the underground works and made deep mining extremely difficult.
446:
524:
288:
and the chamber was set 42 metres (138 ft) below ground, at the end of a gallery 408 metres (1,339 ft) long and charged with 43,400 kilograms (95,600 lb) of
198:
and St Eloi. The
Germans built an extensive system of defensive tunnels and were actively mining against the British trenches at the intermediate levels.
273:
210:
980:
295:
When the large St Eloi deep mine was fired by the 1st
Canadian Tunnelling Company on 7 June 1917, it destroyed some of the earlier craters from 1916 (
985:
519:
328:
269:
251:
Map of St Eloi with craters of the six mines fired on 27 March 1916 and plan of the deep mine fired on 7 June 1917 as part of the mines in the
904:
852:
826:
801:
676:
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567:
498:
Mine crater in Sint-Elooi taken in panorama. The crater is now a bog between private land. It is possible to access the site from the road.
476:
364:
T.E. Hulme (1883–1917). There is a flagpole with the
British flag next to it, and in 2003 an artillery gun was added to the memorial.
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mentions the town as the site of a hospital where the titular character performs experiments during World War I.
353:
230:
222:
218:
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Military
Operations France and Belgium, 1916: Sir Douglas Haig's Command to the 1st July: Battle of the Somme
440:
British officers in a captured German armoured observation post on a ruined house in St Eloi, 11 August 1917
191:
311:) can still be seen. The successful detonation allowed the capture of the German lines at St Eloi by the
187:
312:
171:
871:
179:
292:. Building preparations had started on 16 August 1915 and the mine was completed on 11 June 1916.
31:
900:
879:
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821:. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Naval & Military Press.
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in 1917, the
British began a mining offensive against the German lines to the south of Ypres.
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began at St Eloi in spring 1915. Much of the mining in this sector was done by the
264:, mining and counter-mining at St Eloi continued at a pace. In preparation of the
845:
Major & Mrs Holt's
Battlefield Guide to the Ypres Salient & Passchendaele
174:
forces. From the spring of 1915, there was constant underground fighting in the
155:
65:
17:
693:
shaft was begun in the area of Bus House
Cemetery, behind a farm-house called
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69:
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715:
702:
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Royal Garrison Artillery gunners outside a shelter at St Eloi, 11 August 1917
77:
73:
335:, which enabled the British to make a general withdrawal towards St. Eloi,
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361:
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120:
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45:
728:). From there, the gallery was extended to the area of the mine chamber.
603:
289:
276:, most of which were detonated simultaneously on 7 June 1917, creating
53:
336:
245:
142:
135:
41:
201:
In March 1915, they fired mines under the elevated area known as
465:
Sappers at Work: A Canadian Tunnelling Company, Hill 60, St Eloi
379:
Sappers at Work: A Canadian Tunnelling Company, Hill 60, St Eloi
60:
is the Dutch and only official name, the village's French name,
452:
St. Eloi, 11 August 1917. A shell is bursting in the background
280:
craters. The largest of these mines was at St Eloi, dug by the
381:, which bears a reference to both St Eloi/Sint-Elooi and the
205:
just south-east of St Eloi and in the ensuing fighting (the
40:
is a small village, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of
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581:
579:
577:
792:
Barton, Peter; Doyle, Peter; Vandewalle, Johan (2004).
56:. The former municipality is now part of Ypres. Though
794:
Beneath Flanders Fields: The Tunnellers' War 1914−1918
64:, is most commonly used in English due to its role in
549:
598:
596:
525:
List of Canadian battles during the First World War
327:. On 27 May 1940, the 17th Brigade of the British
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331:stopped the advance of three German divisions at
284:. The work was begun with a deep shaft named
8:
274:Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers
115:who worked for twenty years to convert the
896:Messines 1917: The Zenith of Siege Warfare
323:The area was fought over again during the
68:. The village and the nearby locations of
818:The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940
774:
729:
675:sfn error: no target: CITEREFJones2010 (
629:sfn error: no target: CITEREFJones2010 (
587:
566:sfn error: no target: CITEREFJones2010 (
141:Map showing Sint-Elooi/St Eloi south of
542:
418:
520:Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)
486:Cenotaph, listing St Eloi 3rd from top
392:T.E. Hulme (1883–1917) wrote the poem
762:
750:
670:
624:
561:
233:at St Eloi in a local operation (the
7:
741:Turner, Messines 1917 (2010), p. 44.
899:. Campaign Series. Oxford: Osprey.
847:. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books.
843:Holt, Tonie; Holt, Valmai (2014) .
550:Barton, Doyle & Vandewalle 2004
243:was later named after the battle.
162:, the village was the site of the
25:
981:Populated places in West Flanders
27:Village in West Flanders, Belgium
491:
475:
457:
445:
433:
421:
88:The village takes its name from
80:in 1970 and into Ypres in 1976.
383:1st Canadian Tunnelling Company
282:1st Canadian Tunnelling Company
929:The Battle of St. Eloi Craters
1:
986:Tunnel warfare in World War I
356:and an extract from the poem
303:), although a double crater (
109:
811:Ellis, Major L. F. (2004) .
689:According to Holt/Holt, the
796:. Staplehurst: Spellmount.
606:. theactionofsteloi1915.com
1002:
893:Turner, Alexander (2010).
510:Actions of St Eloi Craters
262:Actions of St Eloi Craters
235:Actions of St Eloi Craters
158:, like other parts of the
145:and the front line in the
29:
515:Battle of Messines (1917)
354:172nd Tunnelling Company
231:172nd Tunnelling Company
223:172nd Tunnelling Company
219:177th Tunnelling Company
30:Not to be confused with
697:by the British troops (
404:Herbert West–Reanimator
272:were eventually dug by
716:50.813000°N 2.887111°E
257:
151:
105:
329:5th Infantry Division
313:British 41st Division
270:Twenty-six deep mines
249:
139:
775:Holt & Holt 2014
730:Holt & Holt 2014
604:"Action of St. Eloi"
588:Holt & Holt 2014
373:During World War I,
211:tunnelling companies
948: /
721:50.813000; 2.887111
712: /
652:. firstworldwar.com
627:, pp. 101–103.
673:, p. 107-109.
266:Battle of Messines
258:
253:Battle of Messines
152:
906:978-1-84603-845-7
854:978-0-85052-551-9
828:978-1-84574-056-6
803:978-1-86227-237-8
650:"St Eloi Craters"
530:St. Eloi Mountain
394:Trenches: St Eloi
358:Trenches: St Eloi
207:Action of St Eloi
123:to Christianity.
76:were merged into
16:(Redirected from
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952:50.810°N 2.892°E
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149:of June 1916.
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147:Ypres Salient
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910:. Retrieved
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832:. Retrieved
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704:50°48′46.8″N
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654:. Retrieved
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608:. Retrieved
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319:World War II
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188:Railway Wood
153:
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48:province of
37:
36:
955: /
719: /
707:2°53′13.6″E
156:World War I
132:World War I
66:World War I
970:Categories
940:50°48′36″N
785:References
763:Ellis 1954
751:Ellis 1954
671:Jones 2010
625:Jones 2010
610:4 December
562:Jones 2010
402:The story
260:After the
70:Voormezele
58:Sint-Elooi
38:Sint-Elooi
943:2°53′31″E
874:(1993) .
695:Bus House
537:Footnotes
347:Memorials
203:The Mound
196:The Bluff
78:Zillebeke
74:Hollebeke
912:19 April
532:, Canada
504:See also
484:Winnipeg
397:(online)
390:war poet
377:painted
362:war poet
341:Dikkebus
278:19 large
221:and the
166:between
121:Flanders
62:St. Eloi
834:29 June
815:(ed.).
656:21 June
415:Gallery
360:by the
333:Hill 60
290:ammonal
213:of the
184:Hill 60
127:History
54:Belgium
46:Flemish
44:in the
903:
882:
851:
825:
800:
337:Kemmel
172:Allied
168:German
102:French
92:(also
976:Ypres
180:Hooge
143:Ypres
117:pagan
42:Ypres
914:2015
901:ISBN
880:ISBN
849:ISBN
836:2015
823:ISBN
798:ISBN
677:help
658:2010
631:help
612:2015
568:help
482:The
388:The
339:and
307:and
299:and
170:and
106:Éloi
98:Loye
94:Eloy
84:Name
72:and
467:by
406:by
178:at
154:In
96:or
52:in
972::
639:^
595:^
576:^
343:.
315:.
309:H1
305:H4
301:D1
297:D2
194:,
190:,
186:,
182:,
110:c.
108:,
104::
100:,
916:.
888:.
857:.
838:.
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679:)
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570:)
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385:.
255:.
34:.
20:)
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