Guest hughes Posted 6 December , 2004 Share Posted 6 December , 2004 I was just wondering if anyone knows what battle the 87th Batallion was in during August 13, 1917. The Battle of Passchendaele was going on during this time, yet Canada did not enter until October. I wanted to know because I am doing a project on a soldier who was in the 87th Batallion and was killed on this day and I went into his files and it said "killed in action" so i assumed there was some sort of battle going on during this time. If anyone could reply soon, because this is due in the next two weeks it would be good. Thanks to anyone who knows any of this, that would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc leroux Posted 7 December , 2004 Share Posted 7 December , 2004 A good source are the war diaries which are on-line here. Check the August 1917 listings, page 6. The 87th was on the front line near Lens. This was the preperation phase for the battle of Hill 70 which started on the morning of the 15th just outside Lens. There are serveral good writeups on Hill 70 which you can find here Hope this helps marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Tom Posted 7 December , 2004 Share Posted 7 December , 2004 This may help, but its not specific. A good source on the operations of the Canadian Corps is 'Surviving Trench Warfare - Technology and the Canadian Corps 1914-1918. It referes to the 87th at Vimy which was April of course and at Canal du Nord at the end of the war. In Aug 1917 the Corps prepared to take Hill 70. The battle opened on 15 Aug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhill Posted 7 December , 2004 Share Posted 7 December , 2004 The Hill 70 operation seems to have largely escaped widespread public attention. Despite being one of the few completely successful operations of 1917, it is largely ignored by historians. Perhaps it was judged not to have the human interest that one sees in other battles. There is, of course, a reasonably good treatment in Nicholson (which is available on-line). There is also a monograph by Fred Gaffen which was , I believe, commisioned by the Canadian War Museum, and is available in print format. A French translation is available on-line here: http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/history_arc...ies_f.asp?cat=1 I am afraid this is a rough-and-ready translation and does not include maps. You really need a map to follow this one, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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