Battle of Hill 70 1917
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 15 August 1917 – 25 August 1917 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1917 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War I | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.4556, 2.8190 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Hill 70 took place in the First World War between the Canadian Corps and attached units against five divisions of the German 6th Army. The battle took place along the Western Front on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France between 15 and 25 August 1917.
The plan was to inflict casualties, to draw German troops away from the 3rd Battle of Ypres and to make the German hold on Lens untenable. The Canadian Corps captured Hill 70 to establish defensive positions from which combined small-arms and artillery fire, some of which used the new technique of predicted fire, would inflict mass casualties on German counter-attacks. The Germans were prevented from transferring divisions to the Ypres Salient but did not bring in troops from other areas.
The Canadian Corps failed to enter Lens but German and Canadian assessments concluded that it succeeded in its attrition objective. The battle was costly for both sides and many casualties were suffered from extensive use of poison gas, including the new German Yellow Cross shell (mustard gas).
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Hill 70 (revision 1379970075), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Hohenzollern Redoubt action, 2–18 March 1916 1916 · 2 km
- Battle of Loos 1915 · 2 km
- Battle of Lens 1648 · 3 km
- Gas attacks at Hulluch 1916 · 3 km
- Siege of Lens 1647 · 5 km
- Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt 1915 · 6 km
Other battles of the World War I
- Battle of Verdun 1916
- Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft 1916
- Gas attacks at Hulluch 1916
- Night action at the Battle of Jutland 1916
- Trebizond Campaign 1916
- Action of 10 March 1917 1917
- Action of 11–12 December 1917 1917
- Action of 16 March 1917 1917
- Action of 17 November 1917 1917
- Action of 4 May 1917 1917
All 138 battles of the World War I →
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