Unknown New Zealand graves at Messines, Belgium.
It is this victory, at the Battle of Messines, that Massey University Senior Lecturer Dr Jeff McNeill from the School of People, Environment and Planning, has written about in his new book Taking the Ridge: Anzacs & Germans at the Battle of Messines 1917.
Fought mostly on 7 June 1917, the battle’s objective was to capture the Messines ridge near Ypres, Belgium. The goal was achieved within five hours, and was a resounding success for the British Second Army and the New Zealand division that fought in it.
Dr McNeill says despite the positive outcome, most New Zealanders have only heard of ‘Messines’ from the recent unofficial renaming of Messines Road in Wellington to Zelinskiy Road as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“Messines was an important victory at a crucial time in the First World War. It finally showed that battles could be won, at a time when the Allies has suffered so many setbacks. It was also a very modern battle, using all the latest technology and tactics.”
Dr Jeffrey McNeill and his just-published book Taking the Ridge.
The battle saw the largest commitment of New Zealand soldiers at any one time in battle in the First World War, Dr McNeill adds. He calculates that around 8000 soldiers went up the Messines ridge slope on the first morning of the battle, and were supported by almost the same number of men. More fought in the battle’s aftermath. That is about one fifth of all New Zealand soldiers who went overseas in the war.
Despite newspaper headlines in New Zealand labelling it as the ‘greatest victory of the war’ for ‘very light casualties’, nearly 1000 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives, and some 3,000 were wounded.
“Messines is New Zealand’s great forgotten victory. It’s a story that needs to be told, and the men who fought in it honoured,” Dr McNeill says.
Dr McNeill is launching Taking the Ridge with a free public lecture at the Palmerston North City Library on Thursday 21 April at 6pm. To RSVP, email genny.vella@pncc.govt.nz or phone 027 292 9965. More information about the event is available here.
Taking the Ridge: Anzacs and Germans at the Battle of Messines 1917, Titipounamu Rifleman Press. Available from selected bookstores and www.riflemanpress.nz.