Hill 70
The close of operations
Following the disappointment of the Green Crassier operation the Canadians were pleased to see the 50th Battalion successfully capture the northern half of Aloof Trench in the early hours of the 25th August 1917.
Following a short bombardment from the heavy artillery, Stokes mortars and rifle grenades replaced the usual field artillery before the infantry went over the top at 0200 hours. For the loss of only a half dozen wounded soldiers the 50th Battalion secured Aloof Trench and during the day pushed on slightly beyond it so that they were almost on the line of the objectives set for the 21st August.
This minor but happier note brought the Canadians offensive to a close. Their 3rd Division had already relieved the 1st and 2nd Division on Hill 70 and on the night of the 24/25th August 11th Brigade relieved the 10th Brigade on its new front — ultimately the only slight improvement in the line since the opening day of the battle.
For a moment there were thoughts about continuing the encirclement of Lens but General Sir Henry Horne commanding First Army decided that he did not have the necessary resources to see the operation through.
Sir Arthur Currie’s plan to capture territory and then use the artillery to destroy anything that approached had been most successfully carried out. It had however used considerable amounts of ammunition.
The objective of the offensive against Hill 70 had been to force the Germans to remain vigilante in Artois whilst they were at the same time battling the Commonwealth troops in Belgian Flanders. If the Germans had hoped to divert troops away from the south in order to reinforce the north then the Canadian Corps’ offensive had confounded their plans.
The ten days fighting had cost the Canadians 9,198 killed and wounded — a casualty rate only slightly less than Passchendaele a few months later (836 per day, against 1,000).
Haig told Currie that he considered Hill 70 as : One of the finest minor operations of the war. Currie himself declared : It was altogether the hardest battle in which the Corps has participated. At the time of writing he was correct, but only at that moment in August 1917.