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