The Flanders Plain at Ypres lies almost exclusively on Ypres Clay (the equivalent of London Clay) and therefore resembles south Suffolk and east Essex in its geology and topography. Those with gardens here will know this produces a heavy clay soil which becomes thick, glutinous mud if sufficiently wet and disturbed. Therefore the bombardments during the battles of Ypres and Messines in 1917 set the scene for the 'nightmarish landscape which was to haunt many of the old soldiers of the Ypres Salient'.
Peter Doyle's guide to the Geology of the Western Front, 1914-1918 (£13.00 Geologist's Association Guide No. 61. ISBN 0-9007 17-59-9) describes the opportunities and problems created for the trench warfare of the Great War by the geology of northern France and Belgium. Three itineraries are outlined.
The Ypres Salient was on the London Clay plain of Flanders. This is an easy material for digging and tunnelling, maintaining quite good trench sides. However, poor drainage created the problems described above. The Arras (twinned with Ipswich) sector was mostly on sands overlying chalk on the concealed coalfield of the Lens area. Parts of this area are so flat that even the spoil heaps from the coal mines provided important vantage points. In the Canadian Memorial Park near Vimy, the Grange Tunnel system in the chalk is open to the public. Finally, the Somme Battlefield is mostly on chalk and in places, such as at Beaumont Hammel shows how use of natural features, in this case a dry valley, can give enormous strategic advantage.
This slim volume (79 pages) would make an invaluable addition to any visit to the Western Front battlefield sites. It is packed with practical information, such as access to car parks and toilets, plus clear travel directions. The maps and photographs (black and white) are excellent. Students of Suffolk/Essex geology should find this book interesting because of the familiarity of lithology and landscape it portrays. Those interested in trench warfare will find it instructive in the importance of geology and topography to military strategy.
Available from: Geologists' Association Office, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1V 9AG
Reviewed by Caroline Markham