Whilst the war raged across Flanders fields, an equally horrifying and sometimes more dangerous battle took place underground. "Beneath Flanders Fields" tells the story of the tunnellers' war, which still remains one of the most misunderstood, misrepresented and mystifying conflicts of the Great War. A wealth of personal testimonies reveal the engineering, technology and science behind how this most intense of battles was fought - and won. They speak of how the tunnellers lived a relentless existence in the depths of the battlefield for almost two and a half years, enduring physical and mental stresses that were often more extreme than their infantry counterparts. Their lives were reduced to a complex war of silence, tension and claustrophobia, leading up to the most dramatic mine offensive in history launched on 7 June 1917 at Messines Ridge. Yet, Messines was not the end of their story, which continued with the crafting of a whole underground world of headquarters, cookhouses and hospitals, housing the innumerable troops who passed through this part of the Western Front. Here, this extraordinary, hidden world is revealed and the fragile legacy it has left behind on Flanders fields is brought to light.
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About the Author
Peter Barton, like so many others, derived his passion for the Great War from his grandfather, who served in a veterinary unit near Ypres, and from veteran friends like Bert Fearns, to whom this book is dedicated. He is a filmmaker and writer, and secretary of the All Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group. Peter Doyle is a geologist - and latterly an archaeologist - with a special interest in the role of geology and terrain in the outcome of battles. Amongst others, he has made studies of the Great War battlefields of the Western Front, Gallipoli and Salonika. With Peter Barton, he is co-secretary of the All Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group. Johan Vandewalle was born and bred in Zonnebeke. He grew up surrounded by the legacy of the Great War, and many childhood adventures involved things subterranean. Although today a skilled carpenter, his working life began as a professional civil engineer tunneller, and the combined knowledge of both disciplines has created a passion and technical understanding of the underground war which has made him the foremost explorer of the tunnels and dugouts in Flanders. Johan can be found on most evenings at his other business, the Cafe De Dreve on the corner of Polygon Wood, the home of the underground war in the Ypres Salient.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 67 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Whilst the common reader will not mind (or indeed know) Birdsong borrows wholesale from older accounts, this definitive tome accurately depicts a) how WW1 underground warfare was fought on the Western Front b) presents illustrated eye-witness accounts of previous unpublished work and c) how 30 years of research on the battlefield by the authors, mostly for the first time, has discovered significant parts of the tunnel system, with Flanders Fields geology preserving artifacts and systems to a unique degree.
There are plentiful contemporary diagrams and photographs of projected operations as well as modern colour photographs of the author's investigations. The three author's different specialties avoids the common author bias of single author books, with the eye for detail giving the military and amateur enthusiast alike a mass of information.
A must for the military and amateur enthusiast at a very reasonable hardback price, this book fills a gap of a little known but highly important theatre of operations, little known due to the secrecy involved in wartime mining.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There is no doubt, that many excellent books have been written and published on the wide ranging and different aspects of the Great War, these include both general as well as specialist publications which are aimed at either the general reader or expert or often both. I have personally read many books on this tragic conflict, some I find fascinating, others are rather run of the mill and are possibly recycled from previous publications. This splendid title is however one that shines out and I am sure, it will be of tremendous interest to a wide audience of both amateur and professional military historians, researchers and general readers alike.
The war beneath the "killing fields" of the Western Front has in my opinion until now been overshadowed and often neglected by authors and publishers by what took place above the ground. This truly magnificent book will, without a doubt do much to draw attention to the skilful , yet unseen game of "cat and mouse" that was taking place in the damp and dirty tunnels underground.
I can honestly say that this volume made interesting reading and succeeded in stimulating my own interest in carrying out further research into this fascinating aspect of the Great War. The authors (all tunnelling experts), have in fact been inundated with enquiries on this subject since the publication of Sebastian Faulke's "Birdsong" and have as a result carried out over twenty five years painstaking research, excavations and investigation to be able to produce this brilliant title.
The book is packed with a tremendous amount of gripping information and is backed up with a host of colourful maps, in excess of 450 colour as well as black and white photographs and many highly detailed and professional diagrams. Many of the photographs are unique and will keep the reader engrossed like I was for many hours.
If there is one book to buy on this intriguing subject, this is it - I am sure you will not be disappointed!
The war beneath the "killing fields" of the Western Front has in my opinion until now been overshadowed and often neglected by authors and publishers by what took place above the ground. This truly magnificent book will, without a doubt do much to draw attention to the skilful , yet unseen game of "cat and mouse" that was taking place in the damp and dirty tunnels underground.
I can honestly say that this volume made interesting reading and succeeded in stimulating my own interest in carrying out further research into this fascinating aspect of the Great War. The authors (all tunnelling experts), have in fact been inundated with enquiries on this subject since the publication of Sebastian Faulke's "Birdsong" and have as a result carried out over twenty five years painstaking research, excavations and investigation to be able to produce this brilliant title.
The book is packed with a tremendous amount of gripping information and is backed up with a host of colourful maps, in excess of 450 colour as well as black and white photographs and many highly detailed and professional diagrams. Many of the photographs are unique and will keep the reader engrossed like I was for many hours.
If there is one book to buy on this intriguing subject, this is it - I am sure you will not be disappointed!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A. Tennant
Format:Paperback
Quite simply one of the best books on the Great War I have ever read. Beautifully written and with a wealth of photos and diagrams it transports you back to the dark days of the Salient.
Buy it.
Buy it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
1ST WORLD WAR TUNNELERS
a fantastic book best one on tunnelers of the first world war i have read yet.
and a great insight into the dangers that faced them deep below the surface
and a great insight into the dangers that faced them deep below the surface
Published 1 month ago by john
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review
Very interesting and thorough, many diagrams, photos and first-hand accounts of those brave men.
Very well researched and a valued addition to my WW1 collection
Very well researched and a valued addition to my WW1 collection
Published 2 months ago by Daniel Benest
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
A thoroughly researched and smoothly written book on a fascinating subject. How did the 'moles' cope with the claustrophobia? VC's all round.
Published 5 months ago by William Rowlinson Carter
5.0 out of 5 stars
World War 1 Tunnelers
This is one of the best written and best illustrated books on a military theme I have ever read. It covers the background of the early war in Ypres, the geology and its... Read more
Published 6 months ago by pete1000
4.0 out of 5 stars
the underground war.
I have read several books about the Great War but knew nothing about the war going on below ground on the Western Front. Read more
Published 16 months ago by road nomad
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual topic expertly covered
Having waited nearly two years for this book to come back into print I hoped the wait was worth it. I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Trenchfinder
5.0 out of 5 stars
Splendid book, mandatory
Interesting well written book on a somewhat obscure and not that documented topic. The author manages to write a general portrait of the tunnellers war while at the same time doing... Read more
Published on 23 April 2011 by Lb Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars
A little-known, but brutal part of the Great War
I am researching for a planned novel about the Great War Tunnellers and this was a wonderful find. I bought it after meeting Johan Vandewalle, one of the authors. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2010 by Mr. W. J. Neil
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice !
Even this cumudgeonly reviewer is forced into a four star rating ( five being reserved for Shakespeare, the Bible, All Quiet on the Western Front and similar world changers. . . Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by Stephen Bull
5.0 out of 5 stars
war underground
Another very interesting book on the Great War, by the prolific Peter Barton. Not bought a book yet by this author that has disappointed, thorough research on a relatively unknown... Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2009 by RUFUS
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