A huge crater on Hill 60 in Belgium, one of a series of a scene of destruction. The position was ...

A huge crater on Hill 60 in Belgium, one of a series of a scene of destruction. The position was of great importance and was the objective in a series of intense battles culminating in the hill being blown up by laboriously prepared mines. The 1st Australian Tunnelling Company were responsible for firing the massive explosive charge in a mine under Hill 60, 4500 yards south east of Ypres, which completely destroyed the German front line at the northern end of Messines Ridge on 17 June 1917. The ground round about was strewn with pieces of iron, timber, concrete and wire. By the amount of material one could form a slight idea of the efforts made to consolidate this important hill. English, French and German rifles, equipment and ammunition were scattered about. The unburied bodies, rags and human bones, told tales of a series of battles.