Section of German barbed wire : Messines

Length of square core wire, with dozens of barbs twisted around its length, very close together. The barbed wire is rusted.

This piece of German barbed wire is from Messines. It is made from a squared length of wire that has dozens of barbs very closely placed together. German barbed wire tended to be very strong and used more barbs than the British barbed wire. This example is a particularly vicious one, with the barbs close together, rather than the usual inch apart.

The Battle of Messines took place from 7 to 14 June 1917. The bat tale was a successful British assault on the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge, a strongly held strategic position on the Western Front, which had been held by the Germans since late 1914. The offensive operation was the product of long preparation, detailed planning and sound training carried out by General Plumer's Second Army. The initial assault was preceded by the detonation of 19 mines under the German font line which caused an estimated 10,000 German casualties. British, Australian and New Zealand infantry advanced behind a carefully co-ordinated artillery bombardment and took all their objectives within the first hours of the battle. German counter attacks the following day failed, and although German resistance continued until 14 June, British, Australian and New Zealand forces retained possession of the captured areas.