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Lest We Forget
Apr. 9th, 2009 11:02 pm92 years ago today, Canada 'came of age.' That day, April 9, 1917, was the beginning of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the first time in the First World War that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France fought together in one battle. As the Vimy Foundation puts it,
The ridge was widely viewed as impregnable, but thanks to a brilliant strategy and unprecedented preparation, Canadian troops conquered the ridge in one of the most spectacular Allied victories of the war. Canada’s success is one of the reasons why it earned signing rights at the Treaty of Versailles, which was a major step forward to autonomy. To underscore the sacrifices made by Canada, which lost 3,598 men on Vimy Ridge, and 60,000 throughout the Great War, France granted Canada 107 ha of land at Vimy to build and maintain a memorial, widely considered the most stirring of all First World War monuments, and certainly Canada’s most important war memorial.
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The ridge was widely viewed as impregnable, but thanks to a brilliant strategy and unprecedented preparation, Canadian troops conquered the ridge in one of the most spectacular Allied victories of the war. Canada’s success is one of the reasons why it earned signing rights at the Treaty of Versailles, which was a major step forward to autonomy. To underscore the sacrifices made by Canada, which lost 3,598 men on Vimy Ridge, and 60,000 throughout the Great War, France granted Canada 107 ha of land at Vimy to build and maintain a memorial, widely considered the most stirring of all First World War monuments, and certainly Canada’s most important war memorial.
