Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt The Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt , ( ) took place during the Battle of Loos ( 25 September – 15 October 1915 ) near Auchy - les - Mines in France on the Western Front in World War I . The British captured the redoubt and then lost it to a German counter - attack . The final British assault on 13 October failed and resulted in mostly in the first few minutes . In the British Official History , J . E . Edmonds wrote that " The fighting [ from 13 – 14 October ] had not improved the general situation in any way and had brought nothing but useless slaughter of infantry " . Background . Tactical developments . The 9th Division objectives were the buildings and dump of and the Redoubt . The Dump was a flat - topped slag - heap high with a commanding view and had been made the principal German observation post in the area . When captured the Dump would give the British observation over Haisnes and St . Elie . Prelude . British offensive preparations . The artillery of the 9th Division was arranged in two mobile groups and a reserve . One field artillery brigade supported each of the two attacking infantry brigades and two howitzer brigades , with a mountain battery were held back for counter - battery fire and targets of opportunity on the divisional front . The three brigade field compaines of the Royal Engineers and the pioneer battalion were placed in reserve . British plan of attack . The 9th Division was to attack with the 26th and 28th brigades on a front of between the left flank of the 7th Division and the Vermelles – La Bassée railway to capture the German front and support trenches . The division was then to capture the redoubt , the Dump and Fosse 8 before advancing to the Lens – La Bassée road ; after reaching the road the division was to press on to the German second position between Cité St . Elie and Haisnes . The 27th Brigade in reserve was then to advance through Douvrin to the Haute Deule canal with the 7th Division on the right flank . The Divisions of the XI Corps would then pass through to continue the advance . German defensive preparations . There were pit - heads known as and auxiliary shafts called in the Loos area ; was close to the north end of a spoil - heap ( ) known as " The Dump " . The were above ground level and were tunnelled or hollowed out to provide observation - posts and machine - gun nests . The Dump was 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 in front of the original front line , a new defensive work wired for all - round defence was built and named the . The face of the redoubt was 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 . A second position was built behind the first position , on reverse slopes as far as possible , behind a field of barbed - wire deep , to ensure that the second position was beyond the range of Allied field artillery . In the area of the redoubt the fortifications were built in July , by the German 117th Division , after it had fought at Vimy Ridge in May and June ; after a period of reorganisation at Roubaix the division had returned to the line on 9 July . Battle . On 25 September 1915 the 26th Brigade of the 9th ( Scottish ) Division attacked the redoubt and the warren of defensive works held by the German 117th Division . Following use of poison gas and a bombardment from two BL 9 . 2 - inch howitzer s they stormed through the enemy front - line and gained control of both the redoubt and The Dump within an hour . They continued forward for a further thousand yards , before retreating to a position in front of The Dump in the face of heavy German machine - gun fire from the flanks . The British lost The Dump on the 27 September to a German counter - attack . The German 14th Division was reinforced by the last two uncommitted battalions of the II Bavarian Corps , known as Composite Bavarian Regiment ( ) . During the day they were joined by the I Battalion , Saxon Infantry Regiment 104 of the 40th Division . A German attack on the 29 September failed due to a lack of hand grenades , after which they reorganised their troops . By this time major fighting over most of the rest of the Loos battlefield had come to an end . By 3 October had been fought back virtually to their initial position at the cost of thousands of lives and on 8 October the Guards Division was eventually able to repulse a German attack by the 123rd and 117th divisions and part of the 7th Division on the left flank . The German artillery preparation had been inaccurate due to fog and the German infantry were stopped by uncut wire and an alert British defence , assisted by French troops north of Hill 70 , the German attackers losing . On 13 October the fresh 46th ( North Midland ) Division ( TF ) attacked after a cloud gas release . The division suffered a similar fate to the two German divisions on 8 October , losing , mostly in the first ten minutes . The gas clouds had little effect due to high winds and bright sunlight and artillery support had been minimal , due to a lack of ammunition . Aftermath . Analysis . The official history of the war suggested that " The fighting on the 13th – 14th October had not improved the general situation in any way and had brought nothing but useless slaughter of infantry . " General Sir Douglas Haig thought it might be possible to launch another attack on 7 November , but the combination of heavy rain and accurate German shelling during the second half of October finally persuaded him to abandon the attempt . Casualties . The 9th Division lost and the 46th Division The Guards Division had On 8 October the German 123rd and 117th divisions lost During the Battle of Loos , the 117th Division lost Order of battle . The 46th ( North Midland ) Division was made up of the following units at the time of the attack on the Redoubt : 137th Brigade ( Staffordshire ) 138th Brigade ( Lincoln and Leicester ) 139th Brigade ( Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire ) Divisional Pioneers Royal Field Artillery Royal Engineers See also . Commemoration . The missing are commemorated on the Loos Memorial . On 13 October 2006 , a memorial was unveiled , to commemorate the officers and men of the 46th ( North Midland ) Division who became casualties , on 91st anniversary of the final assault . The memorial was designed by Michael Credland and takes the form of an octagonal broken column high , built from Portland stone , with two tiers of steps forming the base . The broken column signifies the loss of the head of the family and the loss of an army column . The angle of cut at the top of the column is and the pitch of the steps is the same angle . An inscription " " Their Country Found Them Ready " " , is carved on the top step of the Memorial and was chosen by Martin Middlebrook , from the song Keep the Home Fires Burning , composed by Ivor Novello in 1915 .