Hill 60

Site of a WWI battle.

Hill 60 was a low rise on the southern flank of the Ypres Salient and was named for the 60 metre contour which marked its bounds. Hill 60 was not a natural highpoint, but was created as a result of the digging of the nearby railway cutting. As such it was a strategically significant area of high ground. The hill had been captured by the Germans on December 10, 1914 from the French army. After the Race for the Sea, it was obvious the Hill had to be retaken. A great deal of fighting around Hill 60 was underground.

In the first operation of its kind by the British, the Corps of Royal Engineers specialist tunnelling companies laid six mines by April 10, 1915. These mines (together with other unfinished mines) were filled with around 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) of explosives, with the resulting explosions ripped the heart out of the hill over a period of some 10 seconds. It flung debris almost 300 feet (91 m) into the air and scattered it for a further 300 yards (270 m) in all directions.