Why?

In four short years, from 1914 to 1918, over 10 million men and women serving in armed forces on fronts around the world were killed, while double that number were wounded, disabled and disfigured; and at least another 7 million civilians lost their lives as well. Most died horrific deaths. But as time passes by we tend to forget, a century later, how many sacrifices were made day after day on both sides of one the most deadly conflicts in human history. Civilized Productions has produced a wonderful choral album, Sacrifice and Solace, which features an octet called the Toronto Valour Ensemble who sang these carefully selected and uniquely composed songs from that era. It is available on CD Baby. The simple translation of the Arabic word "jihad" is struggle.

The Struggle for Craters

Enabling the French Tenth Army to reinforce Verdun, between November 1915 and June 1916 nineteen new British divisions (including Canadians and Australians) had joined the fight on the Western Front. By March 1916 the BEF front had been extended by 20 miles, with troops deployed in the former French-held trenches, from Loos down to Ransart, including Vimy Ridge.
Located at the hotly-contested Ypres Salient, their lines ran around the forward base, called the Bluff, as well as the numerous (huge) mine craters from the previous actions.
The British commenced artillery fire and trench raiding, and discovered the Germans had undertaken deep mining of the area. The Royal Engineers' Tunnelling Companies were deployed to combat German mining operations. This developed into a desperate underground clash, with both sides blowing mines to destroy infantry positions and also setting camouflet charges to destroy the enemy's on-going mining activity.
German shells began to fall on the Bluff early in the morning on Valentine's Day. British artillery guns retaliated but their infantry stood alone to meet the anticipated attack, as telephone wires had been cut. German tunnellers then ignited three mines, one under the Bluff, which buried a platoon of the 10/Lancashire Fusiliers sheltering in an old tunnel, and two slightly further north, under the 10/Sherwood Foresters. The German infantry attacked, capturing the trenches and, after several days of bloody fighting, the Bluff was lost.
Lieutenant-General H. Fanshawe, commanding V Corps, ordered his men to not only recapture the Bluff but improve the position by capturing the German trench position called The Bean. The British bombardment opened on 1 March and the leading infantry began their assault fifteen minutes later. The attack achieved complete surprise and by 5.10am the infantry had captured all objectives.
Nearby, St Eloi had been the scene of continuous mine warfare and by March 1916 a trench salient poked into British positions with the Germans on slightly higher ground – including an artificial earth bank called "The Mound". So, while preparations were underway for a counter attack to recover the Bluff, orders were also given to prepare for an assault at St Eloi.
The year prior, three much deeper mine shafts had been started by the 172nd Tunnelling Company, which by early 1916 had extended to six mines. The central four reached under the German trenches, while the two on the outside were terminated under No Man's Land, the idea being to create craters that would provide useful cover.
British commanders at St Eloi were put on warning that they were to undertake an operation as soon as possible after 10 March, the mines being ready by that date. Based on their experience, however, they believed a mine crater could not be held, partly due to the fact that the Germans had better trench fighting equipment, as well as water and mud. Their objective, thus, would be to advance beyond the craters to the third German trench line.
Delayed by severe weather conditions, in the late hours of 26 March, the British troops moved up and took whatever cover they could on a freezing night, in snow and sleet. Before dawn on the 27th, lanes had been silently cut in the British wire, and the front trenches facing the mine positions evacuated. To maintain the surprise gained by the explosion of the mines, there was to be no preparatory bombardment. Instead, artillery would begin shelling to coincide with the mines going up. The infantry would advance 30 seconds later.
At 4.15am the mines exploded, the artillery barrage began and the infantry went over the top. German artillery shells began immediately to fall on the British trenches, No Man's Land and the new craters. As the depleted soldiers advanced, in the dark, they became disorientated as the ground had changed so much. They could not tell whether they were in a crater or an old German trench.
Although "The Mound" was destroyed in the blast, crucial Crater No 5 still remained in German hands. To make matters worse, it began to rain heavily, adding to water already rising in trenches, craters and shell holes following the underground destruction of a drainage system that the Germans had created. A classic "stalemate" ensued.
At 2am on 3 April, after a brief bombardment, the British finally captured Crater No 5 - the last of the their objectives. Over the next few days, V Corps, desperately tired after battling for St Eloi and the Bluff, was relieved by Canadian Corps – the first time such a large-scale change-over had taken place in .
The 27th Battalion CEF was being relieved by 29th Battalion in the flooded crater field, when on 5 April the German artillery began a bombardment. At 3.30am next day, German infantry began to attack and capture the by-now utterly wrecked British positions, wire defences and badly-mauled front line troops.
By 15 April, after two weeks of heavy shellfire by both sides, it was clear the four large craters in the centre of the original attack were now consolidated into the German front and the Canadian Corps took steps to consolidate the front line that it held – back where things started, and still overlooked by the enemy - setting the stage for control of Vimy Ridge.