Vimy Memorial

On a glorious morning, we visited the Vimy Memorial atop Hill 145 (145 m above sea level), the highest point on Vimy Ridge. The ridge is 85 m above the Douai Valley making a very coveted spot to control. The British and French had made three attempts to take the Ridge, resulting in the loss of 200,000 lives.

The most magnificent monument to the first world war, the memorial was designed by Walter Allward, and took 11 years to build.

Resting on a bed of approximately 11,000 tonnes of concrete and reinforced with hundreds of tonnes of steel, more than 6,000 tonnes of limestone were used in its construction. The monument features 20 symbolic structures representing broad themes including the strength of shared ideals, the sorrow of a young nation and a prayer for peace.

The Memorial’s twin pylons are 27 meters tall. With the added height of the base and the ridge on which it stands, the topmost Peace figure soars approximately 110 meters above the Douai Plain to the east. Inscribed on the ramparts of the Memorial are the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who were posted "missing, presumed dead" in France. Another 6,994 names of Canadians who went missing in Belgium are carved on the Menin Gate in Ypres.

Although I didn't have specific people to look up at Vimy, the scale of the monument and the number of people with no known grave is overwhelming.

The Memorial was unveiled on July 26, 1936 by King Edward VIII. An estimated 50,000 Canadian and French Veterans and their families attended the ceremony.

The Battle for Vimy Ridge.

The memorial was placed on Vimy Ridge because of the imposing sitelines, and the importance of the Battle. This battle was the first time all 4 Canadian Divisions fought in the same battle, and many people consider it Canada's coming of age. At 0530 on Easter Monday, 09 April 1917, approximately 20,000 Canadian soldiers attacked under a creeping barrage, after 2 weeks of relentless shelling of the German positions. The Canadians used sound and flash location to target the enemy's artillery so that by the time the attack started the defensive positions were in very poor shape. The Canadians suffered heavy casualties during the initial assault, but by noon most of the Ridge was in Canadian Hands with Hill 145 falling the next morning. Two days later the Canadians took the Pimple, the other significant height in the area, and the Germans withdrew. Of the 100,000 soldiers in the battle, there were 10,600 casualties with 3,600 deaths.

In addition to the memorial, Vimy Park includes 280 acres of preserved battlefields. The two largerst preserved battlefields are at the Newfoundland Park and at Vimy. There are shell holes, craters and trenches throughout the park.

There are still unexploded muntions in the park, so the grass is tended by sheep.

Another key feature that helped the Canadian's success were 13 large subway tunnels that allows them to move troops and supplies, and get into the front lines without observation and shelling by the enemy. The tunnels had been started by the French and British, and the Canadians extended them prior to the attack. Over 11km of tunnels were dug, with the longest being over 1.4 km.

Before the battle, up to 950 men would crowd into the tunnel, and battalion headquarters were dug under ground to support closer control of the battle.

There are a series of Canadian and German trenches that show the trench system very clearly. The trenches would have been deeper during the conflict, and the sand bags are made out of cement to preserve the trenches.

Remarkably, the German and Canadian Trenches were as close as 25m from each other.

The German observation post

The memorial is most impressive, and we were all feeling a lot of Canadian Pride touring the grounds.

The next stop was the Caberet Rouge Cemetery. The cemetery is near Arras and home to 7,250 souls.

Half of the markers here are for unknown soldiers. There are groups of them including this line of Canadian Soldiers.

The cemetery is in an odd shape, so the rows of headstones run in many different directions. I may not have taken this picture today.

The unusual layout makes for some interesting group photos.

The grounds are immaculate, and the floral arrangements are in full bloom.

One interesting headstone was noted the fact that the occupant was disinterred in 2000 and placed at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Ottawa.

Whenever I visit a war cemetery, I look at the inscriptions, there are always some that are really hit you. This one reads: A silent thought, a silent tear keeps his memory ever dear.

There are also gravestones for people who were buried in a known grave, but later lost in the movement of bodies. It is understandable given the scale of the casualties involved.

After the cemetery we went to lunch near a French Necropolis Notre Dame de Lorette. This is a massive cemetery with over 44,000 graves, plus a big memorial wall to the missing.

The final stop of the day was at the Commonwealth War Graves Headquarters. Here they manage all the databases, cemetery workers, engrave the headstones and repair the 100 year old hardware. A very impressive facility, and everyone we met was dedicated to maintaining the memories of the fallen.

The engraving is no longer done by hand, but the results are impressive.

And finally, at the end of lunch, the restaurant brought out a cake to mark our visit, the tour stops by there every year. Pictured with the cake is Phil Craig, the chief historian and story teller. He is a Shakespearean actor, so each war story sounds like it is being told by Jean Luc Picard.