Messines in Miniature Friday, June 17th, 2011
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Readers of the latest edition of Military Times will be able to read an article by Martin about the model of Messines and its defences that was constructed by men of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade at their training camp on Cannock Chase (Staffordshire).
The model is made of cement and brickends and depicts the town and the German trenches defending it. The NZRB model is a copy of the tactical model of the wider battlefield created at Petit Pont. This example was used as a briefing tool for troops ahead of the Messines action and film shows the Australian 3rd Div studying it.
We believe we have identified the site of the model and hope to search for remains this summer.
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PlugStreetTeam
2 Comments »
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The tatical model which was built before the battle is at Petit Point on the France/Belgium border. The model at Sling camp was built after the battle as a memorial to the sucess of the NZ troops.
How can the model have been built before the battle, when the New Zealanders didn’t begin to move up from Sling Camp until the end of September 1917? Unless they were Doctor Who and did time travel…….