Home History Capturing Hill 70
book: Capturing Hill 70
Book
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Capturing Hill 70

Canada’s Forgotten Battle of the First World War
  • Edited by: Douglas E. Delaney and Serge Marc Durflinger
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2016
View more publications by University of British Columbia Press
Studies in Canadian Military History
This book is in the series

About this book

Capturing Hill 70 tells the long-forgotten story of a spectacularly successful but shockingly costly battle that helped forge the character of the famed Canadian Corps.

This richly illustrated book offers a multifaceted account of one of the most successful but overlooked Canadian battles of the First World War.

Author / Editor information

Douglas E. Delaney holds the Canada Research Chair in War Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada. He is the author of The Soldiers’ General: Bert Hoffmeister at War, which won the 2007 C.P. Stacey Prize for Canadian Military History, and Corps Commanders: Five British and Canadian Generals at War, 1939-1945.

Serge Marc Durflinger is a professor in the History Department at the University of Ottawa. His publications include Fighting from Home: The Second World War in Verdun, Quebec and Veterans with a Vision: Canada’s War Blinded in Peace and War.

Contributors: Tim Cook, Robert Engen, Robert T. Foley, Nikolas Gardner, J.L. Granatstein, Mark Humphries, and Andrew Iarocci

Reviews

Simon Innes-Robbins, Imperial War Museums:

The editors and contributors are to be congratulated on producing a stimulating and thoughtful book that is a fitting tribute to the Canadians who fought and died to capture Hill 70, and that will hopefully be a precursor for further studies of other neglected Great War battles.

Patrick Brennan, University of Calgary:

Capturing Hill 70 has provided Canadians with a multi-faceted, impressively researched, and balanced account of the bloody engagements undertaken in August 1917…[it] succeeds in elevating the engagement to its proper position, provides a comprehensive account of what happened and why, and opens many avenues for future research.

Michele Dagenais:
City of Water paints a much more comprehensive picture of the role and effects of water in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century city than other urban river histories have.

Chris Arnett:
…Hill 70 should gain the recognition it deserves as the first battle in the First World War planned, executed, and fought by Canadians…While taking nothing away from the accomplishment of Canadian arms at Vimy Ridge, Capturing Hill 70 puts these watershed 1917 battles into a detailed perspective…with the excellent collection of essays that comprise Capturing Hill 70. There is no romance here — only pragmatic efficiency in getting the job done in the Canadian way.

Major John R. Grodzinski, Royal Military College of Canada:
Capturing Hill 70: Canada’s Forgotten Battle of the First World War is a thought provoking book worthy of attention. By casting new light on this important battle and offering new perspectives on the leadership of Arthur Currie and the operations Canadian Corps, it makes an important contribution to our understanding of an important period of Canadian military history.

David Pitt:
This new book, which chronicles the battle from its inception to its aftermath, asks two questions: Why was this small piece of ground so important, and how is it that now, a century later, almost no one remembers it? … Whatever the reason for Hill 70’s lack of recognition these days, this insightful, broad-ranging book ought to change that. It’s very hard to read it without thinking: This is an incredible story, and how is it possible I’ve never heard it until now?

Christopher Moore, author of 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal:
This is a meticulous work of battle history by a well-organized team of scholars. It showcases all the strengths of Canadian military history today, bringing to life a significant yet little-known battle.

Robert C. Stevenson, Official Historian, Australian War Memorial, and author of The War with Germany:
Capturing Hill 70 brings to life a significant yet hitherto neglected battle of the First World War. This meticulously researched account of the Canadian Corps’ first action under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie delineates a seminal point in the Canadian forces’ maturation on the Western Front. This volume is a model of its kind.

Roger Sarty, author of Loyal Gunners: 3rd Field Regiment (The Loyal Company) and the History of New Brunswick’s Artillery, 1893–2012:
An eye-opening account of how the Canadian Corps combined intelligence analysis, training, and logistical arrangements to overcome a strongly fortified German position near the French town of Lens in August 1917.

Mark Zuehlke, author of the best-selling Canadian Battle Series:
This book rescues an important episode in our nation’s involvement in the war from obscurity. More importantly, it shines a definitive light on why the battle for Hill 70 succeeded so well and why the fight for the city of Lens that followed went so poorly. A masterful study of strategy, tactics, and logistics.


Publicly Available Download PDF
i

Publicly Available Download PDF
vii

Publicly Available Download PDF
ix

Publicly Available Download PDF
x

Publicly Available Download PDF
xi

Douglas E. Delaney
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
3

First Army and the Canadian Corps
Nikolas Gardner
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
30

Commanders, Staffs, and Battle Procedure
Douglas E. Delaney
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
51

Sir Arthur Currie’s First Operations as Corps Commander
Mark Osborne Humphries
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
78

Gas, Guns, Machine Guns, and Mortars
Tim Cook
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
102

Transportation and Supply
Andrew Iarocci
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
137

Medical Services
Robert Engen
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
162

The German Defence
Robert T. Foley
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
187

Politics and Manpower
J.L. Granatstein
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
205

Remembering Hill 70 in Its Time and Ours
Serge Marc Durflinger
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
226

Douglas E. Delaney
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
252

Canadian Corps Order of Battle, August 1917*
Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
257

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
268

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
272

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
274

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
Download PDF
293

Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 7, 2016
eBook ISBN:
9780774833615
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
332
Other:
48 b&w photos, 4 maps, 9 charts, 2 tables
Downloaded on 24.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.59962/9780774833615/html
Scroll to top button