The Battle of Messines started on the 7th June 1917 with the detonation of 19 mines under the German lines, the devastation they caused can still be seen in the preserved craters at St. Eloi and Spanbroekmoelen. The Messines Ridge Cemetery is the final resting place of 1,534 soldiers, of which only 577 could be identified and on the Memorial to the Missing you will find the names of over 800 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
