On the Western Front during World War I, the body of a British soldier lay on the rim of a crater created by the blast of a German mine on June 6, 1916.

    On the Western Front during World War I, on June 6, 1916, the body of a British soldier lay killed at the edge of a crater marked by the blast of a German mine. The crater at Hooghe village in Flanders, Belgium, was created when the German army detonated the Kassels mine in 1916.

   During World War I, a mine explosion occurred near Ypres at Hooghe. Parts of the Hooghe area were devastated by relentless shelling. Belward Farm, positioned directly behind the German frontline trenches on the far left flank and targeted by the entire British attack, was reduced to ruins. The buildings of Hooge village were reduced to piles of rubble, and the protective woodland of Chateau Wood was shattered to pieces. The area around Hooge became the scene of fierce fighting, with frequent mine explosions by both sides thereafter. 

    On June 6, 1916, the German army detonated multiple mines near Hooge. They recaptured the area and the British front line. This was part of a series of attacks in the region; in 1915, the British also detonated large mines against the Germans. The first major crater at Hougue was created when the British detonated mines against the Germans on July 19, 1915, in response to German mine laying in February 1915. German mines in 1916 were detonated in June 1916 beneath British and Canadian positions in an attempt to recapture the area. The Hougue Crater Group was formed by British mine explosions beginning on July 19, 1915. The cluster of craters in this area resulted from repeated mine operations by both sides throughout the war.