Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt

Action of the Hohenzollern Redoubt
Part of the Battle of Loos on the Western Front in World War I
British trenches shown in blue, German in red, 13 October 1915.
Date 13 – 19 October 1915 Location Auchy-les-Mines, France 50°31′00″N 02°47′00″E / 50.51667°N 2.78333°E / 50.51667; 2.78333Coordinates: 50°31′00″N 02°47′00″E / 50.51667°N 2.78333°E / 50.51667; 2.78333 Result German victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
John French Ferdinand Foch George Thesiger	Erich von Falkenhayn Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria General Kuntze
Units involved
9th and 46th divisions	117th Division and elements of several others
Casualties and losses
3,643	3,000 (partial)
The German 117th Division lost 6,572 casualties during the Battle of Loos.
Hohenzollern Redoubt Auchy-les-Mines near Loos-en-Gohelle, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France

The Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt took place from 13–19 October 1915, at the Hohenzollern Redoubt (Hohenzollernwerk) near Auchy-les-Mines in France, on the Western Front in World War I. In the aftermath of the Battle of Loos (25 September – 8 October 1915), the 9th (Scottish) Division captured the strongpoint and then lost it to a German counter-attack. The British attack on 13 October failed and resulted in 3,643 casualties, mostly in the first few minutes. In the British Official History, J. E. Edmonds wrote that "The fighting [from 13–14 October] had not improved the general situation in any way and had brought nothing but useless slaughter of infantry".

In the summer of 1915 the German armies continued the strengthening of front trenches, communication trenches and strong-points ordered by Chief of the General Staff General Erich von Falkenhayn, who on 25 January had also ordered the building of more defensive lines behind the front trench. Crown Prince Rupprecht the Sixth Army commander and some Western Front generals had objected to this policy, as an invitation to German troops to retreat rather than fight. After the experience of the Battle of Festubert, where Allied artillery had proved capable of destroying a great width of front trench, opposition had been abandoned and the work carried on as quickly as possible. In early May Falkenhayn had also ordered that a second defensive position be built 2,000–3,000 yards (1,800–2,700 m) behind the whole of the Western Front, to force an attacker to pause to move artillery forward into range.

Plans to exploit the Franco-British superiority in numbers on the Western Front, while one third of the German army was on the Russian Front were agreed at a Conference by Joffre and French at Chantilly on 14 September. The British New Armies had begun to arrive, the number of heavy guns had increased since the offensives of May and June and by concentrating resources at the points of attack an even greater numerical superiority could be obtained over the Germans. An unprecedented preliminary bombardment of the German defences would be possible and make attacks by the greater number of Allied infantry decisive. Simultaneous offensives would be mounted from Champagne and Artois towards Namur, the principal attack being made in Champagne. The attack by the French Tenth Army on Vimy Ridge in May and June had failed, which left the German Sixth Army in control of the high ground below which the French were to have assembled a mass of artillery and infantry. It was agreed that in Artois a Franco-British offensive would be mounted towards Douai, by the French Tenth and the British First armies, co-ordinated by General Foch on a front of 20 miles (32 km) between Arras and La Bassée canal. The British First Army was to attack between Grenay and La Bassée canal on a 6-mile (9.7 km) front, with six divisions and three in reserve. The Cavalry Corps and Indian Cavalry Corps were to be held ready to exploit a German collapse. The Franco-British armies were to attack towards Tournai, Valenciennes and Le Quesnoy and subsidiary attacks were to be made by the rest of the Franco-British armies to pin down German reserves.

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