Scaled model of the town of Messines, Belgium. The model was built (mid 1918) by troops from the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (NZRB) which was based at Brocton Military Camp, Stafford, England. It is 40 yards square, constructed of brick and cement and includes the shattered church, the battered and toppling houses, streets and railways. Part of the model was excavated and surveyed for Staffordshire Country Council by No Man's Land Great War archaeology in 2013 and has since been recovered to protect it.
From albumWWI Photograph Album - New Zealand Rifle BrigadeAccession Description
Photograph album of 69974 Private Charles Bradlaugh Ross, New Zealand Rifle Brigade (NZRB). He embarked with A Coy, 36th Reinforcements on HMNZT 102 Willochra for England and returned to New Zealand on the Ayrshire, arriving at Lyttleton on 20.9.1919.
The photographs covers mainly of the NZRB Band at Brocton, places the Band performed at and of soldiers visiting various surrounding areas in Staffordshire while they were on leave.