Archaeologists will begin charting site in Staffordshire, the only example of its kind left in Britain

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A dig to uncover a scale model of one of the first world war's bloodiest battlefields – created by soldiers in tribute to their dead comrades – is about to start.

Archaeologists will begin charting the site, the only example of its kind left in Britain, which was planned in painstaking detail by troops returned from the battle of Messines, fought in June 1917 on the western front.

Experts said the terrain model was built not only as a training aid for soldiers at Brocton Camp, Staffordshire, but also in recognition of the horrific toll the battle fought around Messines ridge took on the brigade.

The ridge formed an anchor in the German front lines but the week of infantry attack, aerial bombardment and heavy shelling resulted in an Allied victory, with four Victoria crosses awarded to empire soldiers.

The human cost of the battle ran to 50,000 men killed, wounded or missing on both sides.

The battle was fought in the buildup to the larger and even bloodier Passchendaele offensive, which began in July of that year.

Staffordshire county council, in a project funded by Natural England, is to make a record of the model for future generations before re-covering the site, on Cannock Chase, in October.

The model was built by German prisoners of war, supervised by New Zealanders, and then rendered in concrete.

It includes small-scale reconstructions of Messines village's buildings, including its church, together with trench positions, railway lines, roads, and accurate contours of the surrounding terrain.