WW1 Tunnels of Death: The Big Dig
TV Show · Documentary

Archaeologists have opened up a vast 1.5-mile trench straight through the battlefield at Messines on a scale of military excavation that comes up only once in a decade. Unearthing the trenches, unexploded bombs, grenades and even the bodies of the men who died there, this is an amazing insight into a pivotal battle of World War One.

2012 · 50m

Season 1

  • EPISODE 1
    The Killing Fields
    At Messines in Belgium, bomb disposal specialists work alongside archaeologists on WWIs biggest archaeological dig. During the First World War this was one of the killing fields of the Western Front and 100 years later the ground is still littered with unexploded shells, grenades and ammunition. Held by the British in 1914, Messines was captured by German troops, including a young Adolf Hitler, and for nearly three years the two opponents faced each other in trenches, which the archaeologists uncover. What are revealed are trenches, which have seen the results of some very heavy fighting.
    50m
  • EPISODE 2
    Earthquaking the Ridge
    By 1917 German troops had been facing the British in trenches at Messines for almost three years. Archaeologists discover German tunnels - evidence of an underground war. A camera is lowered down a flooded German mineshaft to looking for remnants of this subterranean battleground because on one night here 19 bombs were detonated beneath German strongpoints killing 10,000 German soldiers in seconds and creating the biggest explosion that the world had ever seen.
    48m

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About

WW1 Tunnels of Death: The Big Dig

Documentary

Archaeologists have opened up a vast 1.5-mile trench straight through the battlefield at Messines on a scale of military excavation that comes up only once in a decade. Unearthing the trenches, unexploded bombs, grenades and even the bodies of the men who died there, this is an amazing insight into a pivotal battle of World War One.

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Released
2012
Rated
PG
© 2014 360 Productions

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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Indonesia (English)
  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • 澳門 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Malaysia (English)
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
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  • 台灣
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
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  • France (Français)
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  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg (English)
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  • Moldova, Republic Of
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  • Türkiye (English)
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  • Bolivia (Español)
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  • Virgin Islands, British
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile (Español)
  • Colombia (Español)
  • Costa Rica (Español)
  • Dominica
  • República Dominicana
  • Ecuador (Español)
  • El Salvador (Español)
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala (Español)
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  • Venezuela (Español)

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