|
The Battle of Hill 70 was a localized battle of World War I between the Canadian Corps and five divisions of the German Sixth 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 August 1917 and 25 August 1917. The primary objective of the assault was to inflict casualties and draw German troops away from the 3rd Battle of Ypres, rather than to capture territory.〔Cook p 125〕 To achieve this objective, the Canadian Corps executed an operation designed to first occupy the high ground at Hill 70 quickly and then establish defensive positions from which combined small arms and artillery fire, some of which used the technique of predicted fire for the first time, could be used to repel German counterattacks and inflict as many casualties as possible. A later attempt by the Canadian Corps to extend its position into the city of Lens itself failed. Both sides suffered high casualty rates and Lens remained under German control. In both the German and the Canadian assessments of the battle was that it succeeded in its attritional objective. The battle consisted of extensive use of poison gas by both sides, including the newly introduced German Yellow Cross shell containing the blistering agent sulfur mustard. Ultimately, the goals of the Canadian Corps were only partially accomplished. The Canadians were successful in preventing German formations from transferring local men and equipment to aid in defensive operations in the Ypres Salient but failed to draw in troops from other areas.〔Cook p. 132〕 ==Background== The industrial coal city of Lens, France had fallen under German control in October 1914 during the Race to the Sea.〔Burg & Purcell p. 29〕 Consequently, the Germans also controlled the heights at Hill 70 to the north of the city and Sallaumines Hill to the southeast, both of which had commanding views over the surrounding area as well as the city itself. Hill 70 was a treeless expanse at the end of one of the many spurs. In September 1915, the British had overrun the hill during the Battle of Loos but had not managed to hold it.〔Farr p. 171〕 British First Army commander General Henry Horne ordered the Canadian Corps to relieve I Corps from their position opposite the city of Lens on 10 July 1917 and directed Canadian Corps commander Arthur Currie to develop a plan for capturing the town by the end of July 1917. The operation was intended to engage as many German formations as possible and to prevent them from reinforcing the Ypres sector during the Third Battle of Ypres. Command of the Canadian Corps had only recently changed. A month earlier, Canadian Corps commander Julian Byng was promoted to the rank of General and replaced General Edmund Allenby as commander of the British Third Army. In turn, 1st Canadian Division commander Arthur Currie was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General and assumed command of the Canadian Corps. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Hill 70」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|