There they found themselves in a wasteland, in places waist-deep in water and mud, with six large mine craters and few trench defenses under the full view of the German forces on higher ground.

[1] After their withdrawal from the St. Eloi sector, the Canadians were redeployed into frontline trenches about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) to the northeast, at the opposite end of the same ridgeline, where they soon were engaged in the Battles of Mount Sorrel, Hill 62, and Sanctuary Wood.

In the fiercest bombardment that had been experienced by Canadian troops to that point in the war, entire sections of trench were obliterated and the soldiers defending them annihilated, with many being hopelessly buried alive.

Each site represented a significant Canadian engagement in the war and for this reason it was originally decided that each battlefield would be treated equally and graced with identical monuments.

The blocks are essentially identical, carved with wreathes on two opposing sides and inscribed with the phrase "HONOUR TO THE CANADIANS WHO ON THE FIELDS OF FLANDERS AND FRANCE FOUGHT IN THE CAUSE OF THE ALLIES WITH SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION" around the base.

Though uniform in design, they are differentiated in the brief English and French descriptions of the battle they commemorate inscribed on their sides and the small parks that surround the memorial blocks, which vary in shape and layout.

The vantage point clearly illustrates the strategic significance of the position and thereby the importance of the Canadian Corps accomplishment in wresting it and the territories surrounding it from the German Army in June 1916.