Post by stevep on Aug 15, 2022 8:16:17 GMT
On today's WWI post.
Western Front: Battle of Hill 70
The first British efforts around Lens had petered out after a few days, but were renewed again around August 10, with limited success, and they were preparing more attacks in future. To divert the Germans from the area, the Canadians attacked near Lens on August 15. Their main target was not the city itself, but the unimaginatively-named Hill 70 on the outskirts of town, which commanded the surrounding area.
The Canadians’ plan was to secure the hill and inflict heavy casualties on the Germans attempting to retake the position. Incredibly detailed planning went into the artillery barrage. In some cases, guns would swap out their targets and the type of shell being used multiple times over the course of the barrage; gunners were urged to keep their ammunition carefully ordered to prevent mixups in the heat of battle.
The assault opened at 4:25 AM on August 15, and the Canadians were in possession of Hill 70 within twenty minutes; many units were at their final objectives and preparing for counterattacks twenty minutes after that. And the Germans did counterattack–twenty-one times in the next three days. The Canadian artillery, having in many cases calculated their trajectory to shoot at German staging areas ahead of time, inflicted severe casualties on the Germans; their commander, General Currie, wrote that “our gunners, machine-gunners, and infantry never had such targets.” The Canadians held on, despite the repeated infantry attacks, German shelling, mustard gas, and in one case flamethrowers, and would maintain control of Hill 70 for the remainder of the war. The attack did not divert any troops from Ypres, however, though it did tie up all the German troops around Lens.
The first British efforts around Lens had petered out after a few days, but were renewed again around August 10, with limited success, and they were preparing more attacks in future. To divert the Germans from the area, the Canadians attacked near Lens on August 15. Their main target was not the city itself, but the unimaginatively-named Hill 70 on the outskirts of town, which commanded the surrounding area.
The Canadians’ plan was to secure the hill and inflict heavy casualties on the Germans attempting to retake the position. Incredibly detailed planning went into the artillery barrage. In some cases, guns would swap out their targets and the type of shell being used multiple times over the course of the barrage; gunners were urged to keep their ammunition carefully ordered to prevent mixups in the heat of battle.
The assault opened at 4:25 AM on August 15, and the Canadians were in possession of Hill 70 within twenty minutes; many units were at their final objectives and preparing for counterattacks twenty minutes after that. And the Germans did counterattack–twenty-one times in the next three days. The Canadian artillery, having in many cases calculated their trajectory to shoot at German staging areas ahead of time, inflicted severe casualties on the Germans; their commander, General Currie, wrote that “our gunners, machine-gunners, and infantry never had such targets.” The Canadians held on, despite the repeated infantry attacks, German shelling, mustard gas, and in one case flamethrowers, and would maintain control of Hill 70 for the remainder of the war. The attack did not divert any troops from Ypres, however, though it did tie up all the German troops around Lens.
Netherlands
Shipment of several million eggs to Germany is stopped by the Dutch govt when Germany offers to pay for them with paper money, not gold.
France
City of Dijon, France considers resolutions to compel children over the age of 12 to work and to send prisoners to the front.
Shipment of several million eggs to Germany is stopped by the Dutch govt when Germany offers to pay for them with paper money, not gold.
France
City of Dijon, France considers resolutions to compel children over the age of 12 to work and to send prisoners to the front.
Steve
