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Battle of Hill 70

Battle of Hill 70. By: Dylan, Kevin and Ryan. Participants. Canada – Canadian Corps first and second divisions. Germany – German 6 th Army, first and second division, 7 battalions from the 4 th guard division, 185 th division to reinforce battalions already in place. Where was the battle?.

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Battle of Hill 70

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  1. Battle of Hill 70 By: Dylan, Kevin and Ryan

  2. Participants • Canada – Canadian Corps first and second divisions. • Germany – German 6th Army, first and second division, 7 battalions from the 4th guard division, 185th division to reinforce battalions already in place.

  3. Where was the battle? • The battle was fought along the Western front on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais • August 15-25, 1917 • Germany had control of the industrial coal city of Lens, France and they also controlled the heights at Sallaumines hill to the southeast and Hill 70 to the north.

  4. Tactics • British First Army ordered the Canadian Corps Commander, Arthur Currie, to divise a plan for capturing Lens by the end of July, 1917. • Currie decided that control of either hill was more important than the city itself. • If they went straight for the city, that would put Canada in a more exposed position.

  5. Tactics • Currie convinced the British First Army Commander, General Henry Horne, to make Hill 70 the main objective of the limited offensive at a council of Corps Commanders. • The plan was to capture the hill and occupy the high ground, set up defenses, and repel all counter attacks • The attack was postponed from late July to the middle of August because of bad weather.

  6. The Battle • Began 4:25am on Aug. 14,1917 • Special companies of the royal engineers fired drums of burning oil into the town of St. Elizabeth’s and other selected suburbs. • This set up a smoke screen and assisted the artillery rolling barrage. • The artillery fired the rolling barrage directly ahead of the assaulting troops • The field howitzers fired at German positions ahead of the rolling barrage, Heavy howitzers fired other German strong points.

  7. The Battle Continued • The night before the attack, the Germans moved up their units in anticipation of the attack. • The Canadian troops were detected at 3am. • 3 minutes into Canada’s attack, the German artillery started to fire back. • The affected positions of the German 7th and 11th division were overwhelmed quickly by Canadians. • After 20 minutes, both Canadian Divisions had reached their first objective. • By 6am, three of the brigades had reached their final objective. • Only the flanking companies of the two battalions attacking Hill 70 actually reached their objectives. • On the right flank of the 2ND Canadian Division, the 12th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Division, executed an operation to divert the attention of the Germans away from the main operation. This proved to be successful. • The fourth hour of the battle, The 11th C.I.F. of the 4th Division, tried to weaken the German force by pushing towards the center of Lens. It failed because the Germans used local counterattacks to drive them back.

  8. The Battle Continued Again… • The Germans tried many counter attacks and they ultimately failed. • On August 16th, the 2nd Canadian Brigade captured the remainder of it’s final objective. • After attempting to take out the Germans between St. Elizabeth and Lens, and after German counter attacks, The Canadians were eventually pushed back a couple hundred yards. • Over the next two days the Canadians advanced forward, and to further improve their position around Hill 70, Currie ordered against Germany along a 3000 yard front. • At the end of the attack on Lens, most of the attackers where killed or taken prisoner. • In the end, Lens was back in Germany’s possession and stayed that way until the end of the war.

  9. The Aftermath • During September and early October, Canadians were planning for a second attack, this did not happen. • The British 1st Army didn’t have the resources for the attack, so the Canadian Corps was moved to the Ypres sector in preparation for the second battle of Passchendaele. • After the battle, German Commander, Otto Von Below, transferred from Lens to the Italian front. • Eventually, Lens was taken from Germany, but they didn’t care because the demands of the 3rd battle of Ypres. • Six Victoria Crosses were handed out after the battle.

  10. Aftermath Continued • 9198 Canadians killed, wounded or taken prisoner and 1369 Germans were taken prisoner. It is unknown how many Germans were killed. • The end result was Germany eventually losing Lens. • The battle didn’t effect the outcome of the war.

  11. The End • By: Ryan, Dylan, and Kevin

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