Lochnagar Crater

Standing here at the edge of the Lochnagar Crater, you are looking at perhaps the most visceral and shocking physical remains of the First World War. This is not a natural landform; it is a man-made abyss, the result of sixty…

To understand the crater, we must first look downward and backward in time to November nineteen-fifteen. That was when the work began. …

At exactly seven-twenty-eight on the morning of July first, two massive charges totaling sixty thousand pounds of ammonal were detonated. The goal was to destroy the German stronghold and create a 'lip' of earth that British…

On the far side of the crater, a peaceful Garden of Remembrance has been established. This area, with its benches and flowers, provides a necessary space for quiet reflection. …

Near the entrance, you will find two specific memorials that highlight often-overlooked participants in the Great War. The first is a cross dedicated to the tunnelers themselves. …

As the mine exploded, the men of the Thirty-Fourth Division were already preparing to go 'over the top.' Among them were the Sixteenth Royal Scots, famously known as McCrae's Battalion. This unit was unique; it was composed…

To fully understand the history of this spot, we must also consider the men on the other side of the wire: the German One-Hundred-and-Tenth and One-Hundred-and-Eleventh Reserve Infantry Regiments. For a full week before the…

As we conclude our walk around the Lochnagar Crater, look one last time at the sheer scale of this hole. It is a scar that time has not quite healed, and perhaps it never should. …