Lochnagar Crater
La Boisselle - Somme

 

In 1916, from the front line, Welsh miners from the 9^th Cheshire Division dug a tunnel right underneath the German trenches. Here they placed 60lbs of ammonal explosive.

On the 1st July 1916 at 07:28am, the mine was blown - exactly 2 minutes before the start of the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
The explosion formed what was to be known as Lochnagar Crater - a huge crater 300 feet wide and 90 feet deep.

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