Maedelstede Farm crater

Located on a hill opposite the farm Oosthoekstraat 1 about 375 meters N (NO) of the Peckham mining crater and about 1km south of Wijtschate.

The Maedelstede Farm was a little more east than the farmhouse. The Germans undertook various attempts at the enemy to underground underground. However, their efforts can not be rewarded.

At the end of 1916, the 250th Tunnelling Company started the construction of 2 mine shafts, connected at a depth of 15 meters through a gallery. From this, 2 new shafts started to 39 meters in depth. From each shaft there was a gallery: one gallery towards Maedelstede Farm more than 500 meters away and one in the direction of Wijtschatebos.

Some heavy German countermen forced the British to minimize digging. The removal of the loose earth required a lot of effort, because of this, an overhead narrow-track had to be applied, bringing Tunnellers time-saving.

Finally, the digging work towards Wijtschatebos stopped and everything was focused on Maedelstede Farm. On June 2, 1917, five days before the mining battle, the second largest mine was ready, the explosion resulted in a crater with a diameter of 62.5 meters and a depth of 7 meters, a part of the crater was then filled.

Source: The Forgotten War Under Franky Bostijn's Salient - Roger Lampaert Flanders War

View of the mine crater as it is now

View of the current mine crater

Sky view on the mine crater

Aerial view of the Maedelstede Farm on May 5, 1917