A number of pit-heads known as Fosses and auxiliary shafts called Puits had been built around Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, when the area was developed by the mining industry; Fosse 8 de Béthune was close to the north end of a spoil-heap (Crassier) known as "The Dump".
The Crassiers had been tunnelled or hollowed out by both sides, to provide observation-posts and machine-gun nests.
The Dump was 20 ft (6.1 m) 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 (370 m) in front of the original front line, a new defensive work wired for all-round defence was built and named the Hohenzollernwerk.
The face of the redoubt was 300 yd (270 m) 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.
In the area of Fosse 8, more fortifications were built in July by the German 117th Division, after it had fought at Vimy Ridge in May and June; once a period of reorganisation at Roubaix was over, the division returned to the line on 9 July.
A number of pit-heads known as Fosses and auxiliary shafts called Puits had been built around Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, when the area was developed by the mining industry; Fosse 8 de Béthune was close to the north end of a spoil-heap (Crassier) known as "The Dump". The Crassiers had been tunnelled or hollowed out by both sides, to provide observation-posts and machine-gun nests. The Dump was 20 ft (6.1 m) 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 (370 m) in front of the original front line, a new defensive work wired for all-round defence was built and named the Hohenzollernwerk. The face of the redoubt was 300 yd (270 m) 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. In the area of Fosse 8, more fortifications were built in July by the German 117th Division, after it had fought at Vimy Ridge in May and June; once a period of reorganisation at Roubaix was over, the division returned to the line on 9 July.
Hohenzollern Redoubt