Current Information:

Age-26

29, Rosaline Road, Fulham

The Battle of Hill 60 (17 April – 7 May 1915)

Hill 60 is at the southern end of the Ypres Salient and is a man made mound from earth excavated from the nearby railway. It was an important vantage point for whoever controlled it which at the beginning of 1915 was the Germans. In April 1915, 5th Division took over the line in front of it and prepared to capture it. On 17th April six mines were blown beneath it which so discombobulated the defending Germans that 13 Brigade was able to capture it, sustaining only seven casualties. However, holding it was a much more difficult task. German artillery began to pound the position and early next morning they launched three counter attacks which were only repelled after heavy losses and only after the British had been forced back to the crest of the hill. Later that evening British counter attacks retook all of the hill The next three days saw intense German shelling of the position and numerous counter attacks until it was a mass of shell holes and mine craters. Between 1st and 5th May the Germans launched a series of attacks preceded by gas and eventually after desperate fighting, took back the hill.

At 8.45am and then again at 11am on 5th May, 1915, the enemy released gas against the British positions on the hill and on both occasions followed up with an infantry attack, the end result of which was that the enemy took the hill. A series of counter attacks forced the Germans back and some of the trenches were regained but the crest of Hill 60 remained in their hands. The 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry battalion of 13 Brigade, were one of the battalions sent forward to try to regain the lost positions and on 7th May they were ordered to attack the Zwarteleen salient, just to the left of Hill 60, which was also now in enemy hands. At 2.30am, along with the 2nd Cheshire battalion they moved forward but met strong resistance and although some progress was made, the small salient remained in enemy hands. That evening, the 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry battalion was relieved and moved back to the comparative safety of the nearby railway embankment. They had suffered nearly 200 casualties during this failed operation including Ernest Dolton who was killed.