Hohenzollern Redoubt (1916)

Hohenzollern Redoubt (1916)
Part of Local operations December 1915 – June 1916 Western Front, World War I
Map of Loos-en-Gohelle and vicinity (commune FR insee code 62528)
Date 2–18 March 1916 Location Loos-en-Gohelle, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France 50°27′30″N 02°47′39″E / 50.45833°N 2.79417°E / 50.45833; 2.79417Coordinates: 50°27′30″N 02°47′39″E / 50.45833°N 2.79417°E / 50.45833; 2.79417 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Sir Douglas Haig	Erich von Falkenhayn
Strength
2 brigades	2 regiments
Casualties and losses
1,978	97 (incomplete)
Hohenzollern Redoubt (Loos) Loos is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France

The Hohenzollern Redoubt was a German defensive position on the Western Front during the First World War. The redoubt was north of Loos-en-Gohelle (Loos), a mining town north-west of Lens in France. The redoubt was fought over by the British and German armies from the Battle of Loos (25 September – 8 October 1915) to the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916. Over the winter of 1915–1916, the 170th Tunnelling Company RE dug several galleries under the German lines in the Hohenzollern Redoubt area, which had changed hands several times since September 1915. In March 1916, the west side was held by the British and the east side was occupied by the Germans, with the front near a new German trench known as The Chord. The Germans had an unobstructed view of the British positions, from a slag heap called Fosse 8 and in previous mining operations no man's land had become a crater field. The British front line was held by outposts to reduce the number of troops vulnerable to mine explosions and the strain of knowing that the ground could erupt at any moment.

The 12th (Eastern) Division was selected to conduct an attack to capture the crater field, gain observation from crater lips over the German defences back to Fosse 8 and end the threat of German mine attacks. Four mines, the largest yet sprung by the British, were detonated on 2 March and followed up by two battalions of infantry, which captured the new craters, several German occupied craters, Triangle Crater which had not been seen until it was overrun and a large length of The Chord, most of the rest being obliterated by the mine explosions. The main entrance of the German mine galleries was discovered in Triangle Crater and the 170th Tunnelling Company RE crossed no man's land to demolish the entrance. German counter-attacks concentrated on the recovery of Triangle Crater, which was re-captured on 4 March. The recovery by the Germans of the gallery entrance threatened the positions captured by the British, who attacked Triangle Crater on 6 March and were repulsed.