"A wounded Boche being carried in by fellow prisoners during Canadian push upon Lens, Hill 70, August 1917". German prisoners and their 72nd (Seaforth) captors near Lens. The Germans suffered 25,000+ killed or wounded and 1,369 taken prisoner. August 16, 1917 - The Canadian Divisions north of the Souchez captured HilI 70, and attacked the defenses of Lens. The Battle of Hill 70 was a localized battle of World War I between the Canadian Corps and five divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle took place along the Western Front on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France between 15 August 1917 and 25 August 1917. The primary objective of the assault was to inflict casualties and draw German troops away from the 3rd Battle of Ypres, rather than to capture territory. To achieve this objective, the Canadian Corps executed an operation designed to first occupy the high ground at Hill 70 quickly and then establish defensive positions from which combined small arms and artillery fire, some of which used the technique of predicted fire for the first time, could be used to repel German counterattacks and inflict as many casualties as possible. A later attempt by the Canadian Corps to extend its position into the city of Lens itself failed. Both sides suffered high casualty rates and Lens remained under German control. In both the German and the Canadian assessments of the battle was that it succeeded in its attritional objective. The battle consisted of extensive use of poison gas by both sides, including the newly introduced German Yellow Cross shell containing the blistering agent sulfur mustard. Ultimately, the goals of the Canadian Corps were only partially accomplished. The Canadians were successful in preventing German formations from transferring local men and equipment to aid in defensive operations in the Ypres Salient but failed to draw in troops from other areas.