Messines Model on Cannock Chase
Covering around 35 squared metres, the model was constructed following the capture of the village in June 1917 by troops from the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (NZRB). It was built at the Brocton Camp on Cannock Chase by troops from the Brigade and was completed in May 1918, just in time for the first anniversary of the battle.
The Messines model was excavated in September 2013 in a project led by Staffordshire County Council and funded by Natural England. Research by The Chase Project and supported by Dolores Ho, Archivist at the National Army Museum in New Zealand, has uncovered much about the model which was used to train soldiers at Brocton in topography (map reading) and would have imbued an ‘esprit de corps’ within the NZRB, emphasising the Brigade’s successful capture of Messines.
The Chase Project’s research has led to the discovery of links between Cannock and Messines relating to a local soldier, Private Thomas Jackson (6042), who joined the Australian Imperial Forces and fought at Messines. He is buried at the Messines Ridge British Cemetery. Anyone with information about Private Jackson should contact The Chase Project at thechaseproject@gmail.com
Information courtesy of Lee Dent and Richard Pursehouse, The Chase Project Military Research Group, June 2014.
Sources: Lee Dent and Richard Pursehouse,
‘WW1 Messines Model’, The Volunteers, Volume 39,
No. 2, pp. 107-112.
For further information about the excavation of the
Messines Model visit www.staffordshiregreatwar.com
The Messines Model on Cannock Chase
Image reproduced courtesy of David Battersby on behalf of
The Chase Project. Copyright David Battersby.
In Autumn 2007 a section of a “cement mortar” terrain model built on Cannock Chase was discovered by The Chase Project Military Research Group. Further research revealed that the model represented the village of Messines, Belgium.
The Chase Project is a local military research group set up in 2007 by friends Lee Dent and Richard Pursehouse. Although local, the group has members as far afield as Plymouth, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden. A keen interest in their work has been shown by the town Council of Mesen (Messines) Belgium, and the New Zealand Consulate in London.
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Anyone with information
about Private Jackson should
contact The Chase Project at thechaseproject@gmail.com
