tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post2204594106678279387..comments2024-03-22T02:17:34.909-07:00Comments on Weapons, warfare and industrial idiocy: Dan brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146234533337885291noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-17584453039903578892008-05-04T10:45:00.000-07:002008-05-04T10:45:00.000-07:00"I was there!" And, I'm visiting at the end of the..."I was there!" And, I'm visiting at the end of the month to have a look on the ground the area around Messines where I wrote the blog letters for wwar1.blogspot.com <BR/><BR/>One of these battlefield tour companies has invited me along in return for a talk on Harry.<BR/><BR/>Anything you want looked at or photographed?<BR/><BR/>The tow mines taht weren't exploded were outside the main part of that day's attack. They'd been assembling the mines for over a year so it would have been amazing if they were all in the right place. 19 out of 21 ain't bad!Pte Harry Laminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673086195442900581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-61491561306580840612008-04-30T07:36:00.000-07:002008-04-30T07:36:00.000-07:00Jeg - No, and not really. There is at least one o...Jeg - No, and not really. There is at least one of the large mines, which IIRC is 'Birdcage,' that they did not detonate in 1917. At this point, I don't remember if it failed to go off, or they decided not to touch it off as the line of attack had shifted, but in 1919 the army went back in and 'rendered it inert,' and filled in the tunnel. They then promptly lost where it specifically was. So, the mine is a bit to the south of Ultimo and Factory Farm craters, but exactly where, no one is really sure.<BR/><BR/>The Brits took some precaution about making their handicraft 'safer,' but as was mentioned earlier, a lightning strike set one of the buggers off some years back. I would have to investigate that a bit more; most of these mines were 40-50' underground, a lightning strike is pretty powerful, but 50' of earth is a pretty good insulator; I imagine that there were some extenuating circumstances there.<BR/><BR/>But, the 'Iron Harvest' is a real, lethal problem in Flanders and NE France. Some chap at UU (not the Unseen University, though that would be funnier) or Utah State did a thesis about it around about 2001; some 30 Flemish and French farmers are killed on average every year by unexploded ordnance from WWI. I think that it was 2003 that some chap woke up to hear his dog barking, went downstairs to find that 1/2 his condo had fallen into an old underground tunnel/bunker. Suburban sprawl is taking over old battlefields, and these things happen on a fairly regular basis.<BR/><BR/>MoEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-4497387618125715762008-04-12T14:57:00.000-07:002008-04-12T14:57:00.000-07:00Fascinating. I wish the Google map could be overe...Fascinating. I wish the Google map could be overexposed a bit so that the craters would show more distinctly. Have all of the huge mines been exploded? Are the locations of any unexploded ones known?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-31640390038687481682008-04-12T09:57:00.000-07:002008-04-12T09:57:00.000-07:00Yes. They're mine craters.Yes. They're mine craters.Dan brockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11146234533337885291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-15620132021596242922008-04-12T07:49:00.000-07:002008-04-12T07:49:00.000-07:00So what you are saying is that the deep pools are ...So what you are saying is that the deep pools are the craters left by the explosives detonated before the assault?Chas S. Cliftonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00923547685265741325noreply@blogger.com