Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt

The Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, (Hohenzollern Werk) took place during the Battle of Loos (25 September – 15 October 1915) near Auchy-les-Mines in France on the Western Front in World War I. The British captured the redoubt and then lost it to a German counter-attack. The final British assault 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".

Tactical developments
The 9th Division objectives were the buildings and dump of Fosse 8 and the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The Dump was a flat-topped slag-heap 20 ft high with a commanding view and had been made the principal German observation post in the area. When captured the Dump would give the British observation over Haisnes and St. Elie.

British offensive preparations
The artillery of the 9th Division was arranged in two mobile groups and a reserve. One field artillery brigade supported each of the two attacking infantry brigades and two howitzer brigades, with a mountain battery were held back for counter-battery fire and targets of opportunity on the divisional front. The three brigade field compaines of the Royal Engineers and the pioneer battalion were placed in reserve.

British plan of attack
The 9th Division was to attack with the 26th and 28th brigades on a front of 1500 yd between the left flank of the 7th Division and the Vermelles–La Bassée railway to capture the German front and support trenches. The division was then to capture the redoubt, the Dump and Fosse 8 before advancing to the Lens–La Bassée road; after reaching the road the division was to press on to the German second position between Cité St. Elie and Haisnes. The 27th Brigade in reserve was then to advance through Douvrin to the Haute Deule canal with the 7th Division on the right flank. The Divisions of the XI Corps would then pass through to continue the advance.

German defensive preparations
There were pit-heads known as Fosses and auxiliary shafts called Puits in the Loos area; Fosse 8 de Béthune was close to the north end of a spoil-heap (Crassier) known as "The Dump". The Crassiers were above ground level and were tunnelled or hollowed out to provide observation-posts and machine-gun nests. The Dump was 20 ft high, with an excellent view in all directions. New fortifications were built as quickly as possible, after the Franco-British offensives in May and June 1915. At Dump and Fosse trenches, on a slight rise 400 yd in front of the original front line, a new defensive work wired for all-round defence was built and named the Hohenzollern Werk. The face of the redoubt was 300 yd long and curved, with extensions to join with "Big Willie" Trench to the south and "Little Willie" Trench to the north. British planners judged the Hohenzollern Redoubt to be the strongest defensive-work on the whole of the front.

A second position was built 2 – behind the first position, on reverse slopes as far as possible, behind a field of barbed-wire 15 yd deep, to ensure that the second position was beyond the range of Allied field artillery. In the area of the redoubt the fortifications were built in July, by the German 117th Division, after it had fought at Vimy Ridge in May and June; after a period of reorganisation at Roubaix the division had returned to the line on 9 July.

Battle
On 25 September 1915 the 26th Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division attacked the redoubt and the warren of defensive works held by the German 117th Division. Following use of poison gas and a bombardment from two BL 9.2-inch howitzers they stormed through the enemy front-line and gained control of both the redoubt and The Dump within an hour. They continued forward for a further thousand yards, before retreating to a position in front of The Dump in the face of heavy German machine-gun fire from the flanks. The British lost The Dump on the 27 September to a German counter-attack. The German 14th Division was reinforced by the last two uncommitted battalions of the II Bavarian Corps, known as Composite Bavarian Regiment (Staubwasser). During the day they were joined by the I Battalion, Saxon Infantry Regiment 104 of the 40th Division.

A German attack on the 29 September failed due to a lack of hand grenades, after which they reorganised their troops. By this time major fighting over most of the rest of the Loos battlefield had come to an end. By 3 October had been fought back virtually to their initial position at the cost of thousands of lives and on 8 October the Guards Division was eventually able to repulse a German attack by the 123rd and 117th divisions and part of the 7th Division on the left flank. The German artillery preparation had been inaccurate due to fog and the German infantry were stopped by uncut wire and an alert British defence, assisted by French troops north of Hill 70, the German attackers losing 3,000 casualties. On 13 October the fresh 46th (North Midland) Division (TF) attacked after a cloud gas release. The division suffered a similar fate to the two German divisions on 8 October, losing 3,643 casualties, mostly in the first ten minutes. The gas clouds had little effect due to high winds and bright sunlight and artillery support had been minimal, due to a lack of ammunition.

Analysis
The official history of the war suggested that "The fighting on the 13th–14th October had not improved the general situation in any way and had brought nothing but useless slaughter of infantry." General Sir Douglas Haig thought it might be possible to launch another attack on 7 November, but the combination of heavy rain and accurate German shelling during the second half of October finally persuaded him to abandon the attempt.

Casualties
The 9th Division lost 6,058 casualties and the 46th Division 3,763 men. The Guards Division had 2,115 casualties. On 8 October the German 123rd and 117th divisions lost 3,000 casualties. During the Battle of Loos, the 117th Division lost 6,572 casualties.

Order of battle
The 46th (North Midland) Division was made up of the following units at the time of the attack on the Redoubt:

137th Brigade (Staffordshire)
 * 1/5th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
 * 1/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
 * 1/5th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment
 * 1/6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment

138th Brigade (Lincoln and Leicester)
 * 1/4th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment
 * 1/5th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment
 * 1/4th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment
 * 1/5th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment

139th Brigade (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire)
 * 1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
 * 1/6th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
 * 1/7th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
 * 1/8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters

Divisional Pioneers
 * 1/1st Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment

Royal Field Artillery
 * I North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Lincolnshire Batteries)
 * II North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Staffordshire Batteries)
 * III North Midland Brigade (4, 5 & 6 Staffordshire Batteries)
 * IV North Midland Brigade (1 & 2 Derbyshire Batteries)

Royal Engineers
 * 1/1st North Midland Field Company
 * 1/2nd North Midland Field Company
 * 2/1st North Midland Field Company

Commemoration
The missing are commemorated on the Loos Memorial. On 13 October 2006, a memorial was unveiled, to commemorate the officers and men of the 46th (North Midland) Division who became casualties, on 91st anniversary of the final assault. The memorial was designed by Michael Credland and takes the form of an octagonal broken column 46 in high, built from Portland stone, with two tiers of steps forming the base. The broken column signifies the loss of the head of the family and the loss of an army column. The angle of cut at the top of the column is 46° and the pitch of the steps is the same angle. An inscription "Their Country Found Them Ready", is carved on the top step of the Memorial and was chosen by Martin Middlebrook, from the song Keep the Home Fires Burning, composed by Ivor Novello in 1915.

Victoria Cross

 * Captain (Charles) Geoffrey Vickers of The Sherwood Foresters.
 * Corporal James Dalgleish Pollock, a corporal in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.
 * Corporal James Lennox Dawson, a corporal in the 187th Company, Corps of Royal Engineers.