Lochnagar mine, Nature reserve and war crater in Ovillers-la-Boisselle, France.
Lochnagar mine is a circular depression measuring approximately 91 meters across and descending roughly 21 meters into the earth, creating a dramatic scar in the landscape. Visitors can walk completely around the crater's rim to fully appreciate the scale of this massive ground disruption.
British forces detonated approximately 30 tons of explosives beneath German positions on July 1, 1916, to launch the opening assault of the Battle of the Somme. This event created a permanent mark on the landscape that remains visible more than a century later.
The crater becomes a place of remembrance each July 1st when visitors gather to honor those lost during the Battle of the Somme. For many French and British families, this location holds deep personal meaning as it represents connection to ancestors who fought in the war.
The site is open year-round with no admission charge and is easy to reach on foot. The path circling the crater's edge is relatively flat and provides multiple viewpoints to observe the formation from above.
This represents the largest publicly accessible site from a World War I mining explosion in France, making it the most significant surviving example of this type of wartime engineering. Engineers selected this location deliberately because the soil structure was ideal for excavating the explosive chambers needed for the detonation.
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