The most recent edition of the Queen’s Alumni Review features Robert Engen’s (PhD 2014) and Matthew Barrett’s (MA 2013, PhD Candidate) work for the Hill 70 Memorial Project, which memorializes the Battle of Hill 70 through a monument and educational program: https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/alumnireview/stories/battle-hill-70. Matthew’s artwork is also featured on the cover of this edition, in which he “imagines two gatherings outside of Kingston Hall: one in 1918, the other in 1968”: https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/alumnireview/issues/queens-alumni-review-2018-2.
The battle took place in August 1917, near Lens, France, when members of the Canadian Corps fought for ten days against five divisions of the German 6th Army. Hill 70 signified a major achievement for the Canadian Corps as the battle was the first time that its four divisions went into a battle plannednd commanded by a Canadian senior officer, Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie. The 100,000-strong Canadian Corps suffered some 9,200 casualties, 1,500 of which were fatal, during the battle.
Other students or former students of the History Dept who worked for the Hill 70 Project were Claire Cookson-Hills (PhD 2013), Sonia Dussault (PhD Candidate), and Cristina Wood (BA 2017).
