As from yesterday, I'm having to rethink my ideas about the death of my Alfreton GF, Henry Thomas (Harry) COX. We knew he was posted as missing and believed killed on 7 June 1917, the first day of the Battle of Messines. Last night, I was sent a newspaper cutting - The Courier, Sat 28 July 1917, in which grave concerns were raised about Harry's safety. He was last seen in the first line of trenches, but he and his comrade did not answer the roll call on the day following the great mine explosion, and nobody saw him killed or wounded. The huge explosion was caused by British troops and took place in tunnels which had been excavated under the village of Messines. The joint explosion of the mines at Messines, which created 19 large craters, ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions> of all time and took place between 7 and 14 June. As you can see, nearly two months later, my GM was no nearer in finding out what happened to her husband. And I am reeling from the shock of finding out that my GF died by what you might call friendly fire. RIP, Grandad. Kind regards Joy