Vimy Ridge Memorial

[Olham 164]

Being an ignorant as for deeper knowledge about the Great War, even I had heard

the name "Vimy Ridge", and I just googled for it.

I can only assume, that it was one of those battle grounds, they have fought for in

an even harder way than elsewhere; I assume it was essential for the Entente to

hold it.

Now, when I found this photograph, I understood a little of that even without deeper

knowledge. The grounds around the memorial are still like ploughed by artillery, as

you can see here.

 

 

Edited February 16, 2010 by Olham

[Von Paulus 8]

Some say that in a certain way Canada was forged there.

[Axgrinder 0]

Hitler even forbade it being destroyed during WW2.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

9,4,1917

War

Battle Won, Vimy Ridge Taken!

Comprising an attack upon the heights which crucially overlooked the plains of Artois, the Battle of Vimy Ridge saw the Canadian Corps sweep away firmly entrenched German defenders. Some 12km northeast of Arras, Vimy Ridge gained early importance during the war on account of the heights which overlooked the Allied-held town. German forces seized control of the ridge in September 1914 and promptly constructed deep defensive positions composed of bunkers, caves, passageways, and artillery-proof trenches, all heavily protected by concrete machine gun emplacements. With such formidable defensive precautions in place the German army rapidly set about the steady destruction of Arras, pounding the town with heavy artillery - almost with impunity. French attempts to grab control of the ridge throughout 1915 were bloodily repulsed with the loss of some 150,000 French casualties. Although the British relieved the French from operations in March 1916, they were pushed back along a 2km front before they could commence aggressive planning. There, matters lay, pending the wide-scale Arras offensive scheduled for the spring of 1917. As part of this offensive, the Canadian Corps, operating under British General Julian Byng, were tasked with the decisive recapture of Vimy Ridge. In preparation for this the Canadians constructed miles of tunnels through which troops could pass in readiness for the opening of the attack without coming under shellfire. Aerial reconnaissance using observation balloons ensured accurate news of German movements. At dawn on the morning of Easter Monday 1917 - 9 April - the Canadian attack comprised of four divisions began, following a heavy three-week British artillery barrage which was then supported by a well-devised creeping barrage. Within thirty minutes, the Canadian 1st Division, under Arthur Currie, had succeeded in capturing German front line positions in spite of a snowstorm. Within a further half hour the second line had similarly passed into Canadian hands. With the entire ridge wholly under Allied control by 12 April (when Hill 145, the highest feature on the ridge, fell) the operation was judged a spectacular success - the single most successful Allied advance on the Western Front to that date. The ridge remained in Allied hands for the remainder of the war. It did not come without cost however: 10,602 Canadians were wounded during the attack, and 3,598 killed. The opposing German force suffered even more heavily, with over 20,000 casualties. General Byng later served as Canadian Governor-General, and Arthur Currie was knighted for his wartime services. Four Victoria Crosses were awarded as a consequence of fighting at Vimy Ridge: to Private William Milne, Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton, Captain Thaine MacDowell and Private John Pattison.

[gordohk 1]

Here is another link on Vimy Ridge

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge

 

Peter Hart's Bloody April does a good job of covering Arras from the perspective of the pilots

[Olham 164]

Thank you, gordohk.

 

I always fail to imagine casualty numbers - how many people were injured or killed?

That's why I made this graphic.

It's rounded; I dropped about 4 dots, to get columns of hundred men each.

 

The German casualties are 20.000 - the double amount of dots. I couldn't find any

information on how many Germans were killed there.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2010 by Olham

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

No other period in history when so many men were lost in single battles, and WWI had many such battles. When you review the casualty figures you begin to understand why the major combatants in the Great War really did each lose an entire generation of their heirs. Very sobering to consider that the best and the brightest every nation had to offer were literally slaughtered in their prime. Imagine what might have been accomplished in the world if that generation had been allowed to live and strive to their fullest potential. War is the cruelest poignancy: Capable of pushing men to incomparable, singular and collective acts of courage and sacrifice, while at the same instant annihilating their hopes of any such future greatness. Candles in the wind, I suppose.

 

It never ceases to amaze me the heights the human spirit is capable of climbing to, nor the depths the human mind is willing to sink to, to champion the same "noble" cause.

 

.

[Von Paulus 8]

It never ceases to amaze me the heights the human spirit is capable of climbing to, nor the depths the human mind is willing to sink to, to champion the same "noble" cause.

So true.

[Bandy 3]

Yes, for many of us Cannucks the mud of Vimy ridge, Ypres, etc. is in our blood via a lost relative, distant or close.

 

So many great WWI pilots came from Canada as well. Many have remarked a disproportionate number of pilots given the population size at the time, but for the most part their achievements were lumped under British tallys, not that kills ultimately matter or make a man courageous.

 

Thank you for the post Olham.