Lochnagar Crater, Northern France

A reminder of past sacrifice in World War I

Lochnagar Crater is a hole in the ground in northern France, near the village of La Boiselle, which is south of Arras and northeast of Amiens. In appearance and size it is not unlike features such as Culpepper’s Dish — a natural sinkhole on heathland near Briantspuddle in Dorset, England. However, Lochnagar Crater had a very different origin.

During the early summer of 1916 the British Army prepared to make its first great offensive of World War I, this being an attack against German positions alongside the River Somme. The German line was well defended but it was thought that a heavy preliminary bombardment would cut through the wire and smash the German trenches. To further diminish resistance to the opening attack, the British had dug a series of tunnels that ran out from their lines to allow explosives to be placed underneath key German positions.

The mine dug near the village of La Boisselle was the largest of all and contained two charges of 24,000 pounds (10,880 kg) and 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) — more than 24 tons in total. The mine detonated successfully at 7.28 a.m. on 1st July 1916, two minutes before the British troops went over the top. The explosion was the largest in history to date. Tons of soil and other debris were flung up into the air — as high…