On This Day

Vimy Ridge is a seven-kilometre long, partly forested escarpment that overlooks, at its highest elevation of 145 metres, the Douai Plains in the Pas-de-Calais region of Northern France, not the usual type of description for a landmark that has obtained prominence in a country an ocean away. Of course, the reason for its significance is well known in Canada, although not so much in its home country, apart from those living in its shadows, if our experience of speaking to our French friends is any indication.  We have found that only after explaining "la crête de Vimy" was an important Canadian battle during the Battle of Arras that the French we talked to could place it, even though France lost more than 100,000 men on its slope in 1915 in attempts to recapture it from the Germans.

However, recently Vimy Ridge and its dominant place in Canada's history may be better understood among the French, thanks to the coverage of the 100 year commemoration ceremony with its prominent guests (three princes, a prime minister and a president), and some 23,000 visiting Canadians, that took place there at 4:00 pm on April 9th.  We were among the proud Canadians on the field that day.

Our day began at 9:30 am to drive to one of the parking lots from which we were to take a shuttle up to the memorial site.  We thought this was adequately early to avoid the worst of the crowds.  We were right.  It was.  However, definitely not all the crowds.  Even then, it took us two hours of waiting in line to get through the bottle-necked security ticket and bag checks and onto one of the waiting, police-patrolled shuttle buses. The bag checkers had a good, long look at our whole quiche in a box we were taking up with us, but luckily they let it pass!

Looking BACK from our spot in the security line.  Yup, it was a day of some serious waiting.

The site of the Vimy Memorial sits on 107 hectares of land that is considered to be Canadian territory; a gift from France.  Although the large majority of participants that day were Canadians, there were French people among the crowd.  Nearing the top of the escarpment, you can't help but notice among the trees the mounds and craters that remain on this land from the shell and mine explosions from 100 years ago.  It was after entering this area that a French gentleman sitting in front of me on the shuttle turned and said, "Bienvenue chez vous" (Welcome home).  It was a very touching moment, and perhaps my very favourite, among a day of many.

Arriving "home" on Hill 145, Vimy Ridge.

It was nearing midday when I finally caught my first view of the white-pillared memorial in the distance.

On April 9, 1917, at 5:30 am on Easter Monday, the first wave of Canadian soldiers, 15,000 strong, headed out in the sleet and snow in their quest for control of Hill 145.  One century later, we were blessed with blue skies and the sun's heat on that same spot.

After arriving on site, we had another four-hour wait until the ceremony began as thousands of more people arrived on site.  You'll note the girls are wearing their "Givenchy Année du Canada" t-shirts.

The crowd became so thick it was difficult to pick a way through it to return to your spot.  For a good part of the afternoon, all the portable flush toilets broke down so there were only 8 port-a-potties meant for the visitors in wheelchairs servicing 23,000!  Yikes!  Well, at least waiting in the bathroom lines helped pass the hours....

Vintage WW1 aircraft circled early on in the ceremony after having made their way all the way from Langley, British Columbia.  This was a highlight for my Dad as these aircraft played an important role flying low over the battles to report back on the progress.  It was dangerous work and the casualty rate among pilots was high.

As my Dad remarked, for the rest of our lives we most certainly won't be part of such a significant Canadian event that takes place in another country.  The girls expressed their pride in being young Canadians and learned the role of Vimy Ridge in our history.  Without a doubt, it was a once in a life experience.

Although, perhaps not for Grace.  She told me she would like to return on April 9,  2067, to mark Vimy 150.

We just happened to be among the last dozen to leave the area, a full twelve hours after we had arrived.  The setting sun against the memorial's white limestone was beautiful as we waited to catch our evening shuttle back to the parking lot.

Returning the next day to get up and close to the Vimy Memorial was a must for us.  It was designed by the sculptor, Walter Allward and took fifteen years to build.  It was unveiled on July 26, 1936, by King Edward VIII with some 100,000 spectators, including 8,000 Canadian veterans, in attendance.

The day before, we had met a woman on our shuttle who had been there on that day in 1936.

Towering above us are the two 30 metre pillars, one representing Canada with a maple leaf and the other with a fleur-de-lys representing France.

The view from the top of Hill 145,  looking past the "Mother Canada" figure who is mourning for her fallen sons.  It was from here that the victorious Canadian soldiers watched the Germans fleeing in retreat across the Douai Plains.

Allward's search for the perfect building material was extensive.  In the end, he chose limestone from a Roman quarry in Croatia.  Interestingly, the same quarry that Emperor Diocletian had used for constructing his palace at Split.  Here is only a small portion of the wall in which the names of 11,168 Canadian soldiers, those with no known graves that were killed in France, are carved into the limestone.

The wreaths that were placed by President Hollande, the Governor General of Canada, Prince Charles (with a handwritten note by Prince Harry), and Prime Minister Trudeau during the ceremony.

We also took a tour of the rebuilt trenches and a section of the tunnels that were dug to bring the Canadian soldiers up to the front.  At some points, the Allies and the German trenches were a mere 25 metres from one another.

A photo of a section of the tunnel where 10,000 Canadian men were brought up to the front lines to wait out, ever so quietly so as not to alert the Germans, the night before going over the top.  What a tense, terrifying wait it must have been.

Much of the ground on Vimy Ridge is fenced off with warnings not to enter due to the possibility of unexploded munition.  We were told that even today farmers in the area lose 2 or 3 sheep a year due to them setting off a shell while grazing.

This is one of the very few remaining original wooden grave markers from WWI.  It marked the burial site of men lost from the 15th battalion of the 48th Highlanders during the battle of Vimy Ridge.  Up until this spring, it was in the basement of a Toronto church but has found a new home hanging in the Vimy Ridge interpretive centre.  These men are now buried at Nine Elms Cemetary in Arras.  You can read more about this grave marker's journey back to France 100 years later here.

At the Nine Elms Cemetary in Arras, we found some of the men's tombstones from the wooden cross above.  The girls were especially touched to see that teenagers as young as 16 had fought and died.

Along the edges of the recently ploughed farmer's field surrounding the cemetery, the girls were amazed to find remnants of century-old exploded shells. 

Here are the findings of this young archaeologist.  She has kept some as souvenirs, and when a French friend, Laetitia, showed interest in them, Lily gave her one to keep.  Laetitia thanked her and commented how remarkable it was that a young Canadian was giving a French woman an artefact from a French World War One battlefield.  She said she would keep it with her Grandfather's war medals.  

Another commonwealth cemetery in the foreground with the crosses of an immense French cemetery in the background that stretches as far as the eye can see.  I had never seen anything like it.  We also saw a vast German cemetery. 

Late in the afternoon, we entered into a field to the left of the Vimy Memorial that had just recently been cleared of any potentially dangerous material.  One of the many piles of harmless First World War material lies at our feet.  We had a most interesting conversation with this gentleman, Monty McDonald, who is spearheading the "Oaks of Vimy" project.  I told Grace if she does return in 50 years, this field will hopefully be filled with oak trees as it once was before the war destroyed them all.

3, 598 Canadian men lost their lives on this land.  Young men who never had a chance to experience what their lives could and should have been.  It ended right here, in the mud, the sleet; the last sounds heard the deafening noise of the artillery barrage; surrounded by the images of a brutal and bloody war.  They were so far away from their loved ones and their home.  I did feel closer to the reality of that violence and loss here. All in the name of gaining a few thousand metres.  

But to end off with an image that speaks more to what those men won for us, to hope and to peace, below is one of the last pictures I took on Vimy Ridge.