June 3-20, 1916: The 15th Battalion Fallen
In the early morning of June 3rd 1916 the 14th and 15th Battalions of the 1st Division’s 3rd Infantry Brigade were preparing to conduct the Canadian Corp’s first counterattack of the war in an attempt to recapture ground taken by the Germans the day before when they attacked the eastern part of the Ypres salient and tore a 1200 metre gap in the Canadian line capturing all the ground from Sanctuary Wood to Mount Sorrel, including Observatory Ridge. Observatory Ridge had been the main objective of the German attack and as it overlooked the entire Canadian line from Hooge to Hill 60, it had to be retaken. Here would take place the fiercest fighting during the Battle of Mount Sorrel. The battalion would close the gap and later also support the retaking of Mount Sorrel but Like 2nd Ypres and Festubert the year before, the cost was high as 13 Officers and 240 Other Ranks would become casualties – a high percentage of those killed would be Missing in Action.
The following short video commemorates The Fallen of the 15th Battalion at Observatory Ridge & Mount Sorrel June 3-20, 1916- Dileas Gu Brath.
