3. On the night of Saturday, April 17, a commanding hill which
afforded the enemy excellent artillery observation toward the west
and northwest was successfully mined and captured.
This hill, known as Hill 60, lies opposite the northern extremity of
the line held by the 2d Corps.
The operation was planned and the mining commenced by Major-General
Bulfin before the ground was handed over to the troops under
Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Fergusson, under whose supervision the
operation was carried out.
The mines were successfully fired at 7 P.M. on the 17th inst., and
immediately afterwards the hill was attacked and gained, without
difficulty, by the 1st Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment and the 2d
Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers. The attack was well supported
by the Divisional Artillery, assisted by French and Belgian batteries.
During the night several of the enemy's counter-attacks were repulsed
with heavy loss, and fierce hand-to-hand fighting took place; but on
the early morning of the 18th the enemy succeeded in forcing back the
troops holding the right of the hill to the reverse slope, where,
however, they hung on throughout the day.
On the evening of the 18th these two battalions were relieved by the
2d Battalion West Riding Regiment and the 2d Battalion King's Own
Yorkshire Light Infantry, who again stormed the hill under cover of
heavy artillery fire, and the enemy was driven off at the point of the
bayonet.
In this operation fifty-three prisoners were captured, including four
officers.
On the 20th and following days many unsuccessful attacks by the enemy
were made on Hill 60, which was continually shelled by heavy
artillery.
On May 1 another attempt to recapture Hill 60 was supported by great
volumes of asphyxiating gas, which caused nearly all the men along a
front of about 400 yards to be immediately struck down by its fumes.
The splendid courage with which the leaders rallied their men and
subdued the natural tendency to panic (which is inevitable on such
occasions), combined with the prompt intervention of supports, once
more drove the enemy back.
A second and more severe "gas" attack, under much more favorable
weather conditions, enabled the enemy to recapture this position on
May 5.
The enemy owes his success in this last attack entirely to the use of
asphyxiating gas. It was only a few days later that the means, which
have since proved so effective, of counteracting this method of making
war were put into practice. Had it been otherwise, the enemy's attack
on May 5 would most certainly have shared the fate of all the many
previous attempts he had made.