15th Bn Pipers leading the march to rest areas after Hill 70. Aug 1917 P1162

Hill 70: A short four months after Vimy, after a recovery period and a quieter period in the trenches, the Canadians were called upon again. Hill 70, a natural and well-fortified hill protecting the town of Lens, was the Germans’ most important defensive position.

The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions were to take it, with the 15th Battalion assigned the pivotal position on the extreme left flank. They were the hinge of the division’s attack and the inevitable focus of counter attacks. Again, preparation included walking over practice ground and studying a plaster cast and coloured maps. On 15 August at 4:25 a.m. the barrage commenced. Observation planning had been thorough and the barrage was accurate. The battalion did a left wheel as they advanced, following the arm directions of their officers as if on the parade square. The result created a front across the exposed flank. By 5:40 they had taken their first objective and consolidated to support their following companies as they fought though enemy fire to take their objective just half an hour later. Now the battalion prepared to defend and spent the rest of the day repelling counterattacks, one after another. The enemy came in waves, three deep, sometimes over a kilometre wide. Five human waves were repelled, each time by fewer and fewer Highlanders. They stopped the last major wave at 8:00 PM, after fourteen hours of continuous fighting and at 10 the front fell quiet. Later the Germans were to state that they had suffered their greatest proportional losses of the war.

The toll: 61 killed, over 164 wounded.