The 110th Anniversary of the Battle of Loos

25 September 2025 marks the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Loos. But did you know that no less than four battles were fought here during the First World War?

CWGC's Pascal-Louis Caillaut takes us through the interesting but tragic history of the Battles at Loos.

The Battle of Loos

A small town in northern France

Image: The historic mine at Loos-en-Gohelle

Loos, now called Loos-en-Gohelle, is a town in Pas-de-Calais, in northern France, at the heart of what was France's mining and industrial basin from the 19th century to the 1980s. It was the subject of fierce fighting between the Allied and German armies as they sought to gain control of it during the First World War.

The Four Battles of Loos

There were not one but four battles fought at Loos during the First World War. 

The first took place in the autumn of 1914. The German army took many towns in northern France in October 1914: Lens on the 4th and Liévin on the 5th. On 6 and 7 October, fierce fighting broke out in Loos between soldiers from the 109th Infantry Regiment and the 110th German Regiment. 

The French were forced to retreat, and Loos was occupied from 10 October 1914. The German army, including Vimy Ridge then occupied the entire region around Lens.

In the spring of 1915, the Second Battle of Loos began. General Joffre, commander-in-chief of the French army, launched a major offensive on 9 May to recapture the heights of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette and Vimy Ridge. 

A simultaneous assault on Loos in the north was intended to encircle the German troops. The offensive ended on 24 June with over 100,000 French and 27,000 British wounded or dead. Only Notre-Dame-de-Lorette was recaptured by the Allies.

The Battle of Loos - 25 September 1915

Image: British troops advance at the Battle of Loos. Note the heavy gas clouds descending over the battlefield (IWM (HU 63277B))

The battle plan for Loos was approved in July 1915 by the commander of the British First Army. It was to cover a 10 km front, and the British assembled six infantry divisions (60,000 men) to face two German divisions (approx. 30,000 men). Allied heavy artillery went into action at 5.30 a.m., and the British army used poison gas in combat for the first time on French soil to support the infantry's advance. 

Two divisions (the 15th Scottish Division in the north-west and the 47th Division in the south-west) were deployed in front of Loos and took the town at heavy cost on 25 September 1915. The British continued the offensive on 26 and 27 September with several assaults, relieved by French troops on 29 September. 

The offensive was halted on 14 October, but fighting continued until 19 October. Loos was back in Allied hands, at the cost of 60,000 British wounded, missing, and dead. The Battle of Loos definitively entered British history.

Lieutenant Gurden Theodore Thomasset

Image: Lieutenant Gurden Theodore Thomasset

Gurden Theodore Thomasset was born on 30 September 1894 in Beckenham, Kent, the son of Victor Thomasset and Julia Eulalie Thomasset (née Chapin) of 52, Queen Victoria St., London. He had a younger brother, Reginald.

He was educated at Marlborough College between 1908-1913 and was part of the school hockey XI. Gurden won a Mathematical Exhibition in December 1912 to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, studying for a First Class in the Mathematics Tripos Pt1. He continued his hockey playing in the Cambridge University Freshmen's Hockey match and was also a Sergeant in the university Officer Training Corps.

His education was cut short by the outbreak of the First World War. On 26th August 1914, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the London Regiment and sent to France in March 1915 as part of the British Expeditionary Force.

Gurden was promoted to Lieutenant in the 20th Bn. London (Blackheath and Woolwich), part of the 47th (London) Division.

On 25 September 1915, his battalion took part in the Battle of Loos, detailed to follow up an initial advance by the 1/18th London (London Irish), with objectives to the south of Loos. They were involved in hard fighting around Chalk Pit Copse and the village of Loos itself, and Gurden was killed in action that day, aged 20.

His Captain said: "He was without exception the best and most reliable officer I had and was really loved by his men and trusted by them."

Gurden is buried in CWGC Loos British Cemetery.

The Battle of Loos in 1917

Image: Canadian soldiers rest in a captured German trench following the Battle of Hill 70 (Library and Archives Canada)

In early 1917, following the 1916 battles of Verdun and the Somme, German forces retreated and entrenched themselves in a defensive system nicknamed the ‘Hindenburg Line’. The Allies then attempted to break through the German defences at several points, notably in the Arras area in April 1917.

Canadian divisions distinguished themselves particularly during these battles, led by Canadian General Arthur Currie at Vimy in the spring and in July during the attempt to recapture Lens and Hill 70. The battle, which took place on the heights of Lens from 15 to 25 August 1917, was a success, thanks to the element of surprise and excellent artillery and infantry coordination. 

The fighting also took place in urban areas, in the ruined mining towns. With a heavy toll (9,000 wounded or killed on the Canadian side), the Battle of Hill 70 was a Canadian victory that had a major impact and earned Canada military and international recognition.

Private Chikara Fujita

Image: Private Chikara Fujita

At the beginning of the 20th century, Canada welcomed many Asian immigrants in search of work, particularly Japanese and Chinese. 

Chikara was born on 12 July 1884 in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. He spent most of his life there and became an engineer before marrying Kimi. In 1915, at the age of 31, he emigrated to Canada and settled in Calgary, Alberta. His parents, Yoichi and Haki, remained in Japan. 

Asian immigrants, unfortunately, suffered from racial prejudice and were considered second-class citizens. In order to gain more rights and prove their loyalty, 222 Canadians of Japanese origin enlisted from Alberta (they are refused enlistment in Vancouver). 

Chikara enlisted in August 1916 in the 192nd Overseas Battalion. He eventually joined the 10th Battalion – nicknamed the ‘Fighting Tenth’ – which was made up of men from various other Canadian battalions, with only a quarter of the battalion's soldiers actually being of Canadian origin. 

Most of the men in the battalion were immigrants, including men from Brazil, Egypt, Belgium, India and South Africa. By the time the Japanese recruits joined the battalion in December 1916, it had already proven itself at Ypres and on the Somme, and its men were renowned for “fighting like devils”: they had a reputation for never giving up any ground they had gained. 

These exploits can be partly explained by the battalion's spirit of unity: morale was excellent, particularly among the non-commissioned officers. 

On 15 August 1917, Chikara and 34 other Japanese soldiers from the battalion were led by Private Masumi Mitsui. Chikara was killed that same day and was one of 54 Japanese casualties among the Canadian forces. 

Commemorating Commonwealth Fallen of the Battles at Loos

Loos British Cemetery

Image: Loos British Cemetery

Originally called ‘Loos Provincial Cemetery,’ Loos British Cemetery began as a Canadian Corps battlefield cemetery in 1917. The cemetery was formally dedicated in 1927 by the Imperial War Graves Commission.

Today, we care for 2,900 burials here. The names of nearly 2,000 of those buried here remain unknown. We commemorate 900 British and Canadian servicemen of the First World War here, two of the Second World War, and care for the grave of one French soldier. 

Loos British Cemetery Extension 

Image: A reburial service for unknown soldiers at Loos British Cemetery Extension

In 2020, the City of Lens decided to build a new hospital on what were once battlefields. The remains of around 100 Commonwealth soldiers were discovered during the excavation of the foundations for the future hospital, and they were recovered by the CWGC Recovery Unit. 

Knowing that many more remains would be found during a major canal construction project, the decision was taken to build a new cemetery in the area. Land was available next to Loos British Cemetery, and this was chosen as the best place, near the Canadian Hill 70 memorial. 

The foundation stone for the future cemetery was laid on 4 May 2023 by the Chief Executive of the CWGC in the presence of local authorities, architect Valentin Bodinghien, and local horticultural and construction partners.

The cemetery was officially dedicated on 26 September 2025 in the presence of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, the CWGC’s President.

Loos British Cemetery Extension will accommodate 1,100 graves, providing a beautiful final resting place for Commonwealth soldiers found in Lens, Loos, and this region of France in the future.

Reburial Ceremony on 25 September 2025

On 25 September, a reburial ceremony will be held at Loos British Cemetery Extension, on the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Loos. 

The ceremony will honour six men of Scottish regiments whose names are unknown, Lance Corporal Gordon McPherson of the Cameron Highlanders and Lieutenant James Grant Allan of the Gordon Highlanders, all of whom were found at the Lens hospital construction site by our CWGC Recovery Unit team. 

We will not forget them.