100th Anniversary Commemoration - 26th September 2015

The area around Loos-en-Gohelle, at one time an important mining community, saw three battles on its territory. In 1914 French soldiers were beaten back by the, at the time, all powerful German artillery. In 1917 The Canadian Corps swept to victory taking the heights of Hill 70 but then found themselves grinding to a halt in the face of urban street warfare in Lens.

In September 1915 the French High Command directed the British to support a French offensive against Vimy Ridge by attacking across the open plains of ‘Loos’.