CANADIAN SOLDIER STANDING OVER THE REMAINS OF A FALLEN GERMAN SOLDIER.

 Canadian soldier standing over the remains of a fallen German soldier buried in rubble at Hill 70, October 1917.


Today 106 years ago, on August 15, 1917, the Battle of Hill 70 began, a limited-scale operation by the Canadian Corps on the Hill 70 north of the French city of Lens.

In July 1917, the British were preparing for the upcoming offensive in Flanders - The Third Battle of Ypres. The British directed the Canadians to take Lens by the end of July 1917, in order to draw German troops away from Flanders.

Canadian Commander Arthur Currie thought the taking of the Hill 70 north of Lens was more important. Hill 70 was soon the new objective, a good defensive position from which to inflict high casualties on German counter-attacks, if conquered.

Extensive planning was done with feint attacks elsewhere using dummy tanks, but poor weather delayed the assault to mid-August. The attack would be carried out by all 4 Canadian Divisions against 5 German Divisions.

On August 15, 1917, the Canadians attacked at Hill 70, supported by a creeping barrage and an artillery bombardment including burning oil on German strong-points.

The Germans began their own defensive fire but their forward positions were quickly overwhelmed. The Canadians achieved almost all their objectives on the first day of battle, and all of Hill 70 was under Canadian control by August 16.

The Germans immediately counter-attacked but the Canadian artillery repulsed them. The Germans brought up reserves and launched 21 counter-attacks over the next 3 days with mustard gas attacks, but failed to recapture Hill 70.

On August 21, the Canadians attempted to capture Lens as well but the attack completely failed due to German artillery and machine-guns, which inflicted heavy casualties on the Canadians. The operation was called off afterwards. 

In the Battle of Hill 70, the Canadians had suffered 9,200 casualties of whom 1,900 had died. The Germans had suffered 25,000 casualties with 1,369 prisoners taken. The battle was a costly Canadian success, but an important one nevertheless.

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