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Vimy Ridge

The Battle that Defined Canada

Significance

Brought Canada together. First time all


Canadian divisions fought together.
More ground, more guns, and more German
prisoners were taken than in the first two and
a half years of the war.
4 Canadians won the Victoria Cross.
Highest military decoration awarded for valour in
the face of the enemy

People said that at that moment Canada


became a Nation
Only significant win for the Allies in 1917

FRENCH AND BRITISH


ATTACKS WERE
UNSUCCESSFUL

British and French troops had previously tried to take Vimy.


Every time they attacked they would lose more men.
Canada did, in three days, what Britain and France could not
do in three years.

Location
Northern France
Stands 110 metres
high and runs for 8
10 kilometres.
The Ridge held a
commanding view of
the entire Douai Plain.
Under control of the
Germans.

Leadership

Commanded by Lt.-General Sir


Julian Byng and Major-General Arthur
Currie.
Currie was the first Canadian to be
promoted to the rank of General.
He had spoken up against unsound
British plans. Instead he submitted
his own which were often adopted.
Currie and Byng had been a team
since the battles of Ypres.

Tactics
Currie made sure that the preparation for the battle
was extremely thorough.
He was convinced that poor planning had caused
heavy loses in the past.
Troops built a full scale model of the battle area and
carefully practised their manoeuvres again and
again.
Plans flew scouting missions and clearly plotted the
position of German guns.

Tactics
A maze of underground tunnels were
dug to move troops & supplies safely
& secretly.
The plan was to have the troops
closely follow a massive barrage of
artillery fire on the German position.
By doing this they gained the element
of surprise.

The Battle
Attacking together for the first time, the four
Canadian divisions stormed the ridge at 5:30am
on April 9, 1917.
More than 15,000 Canadian infantry overran the
Germans all along the front.
Incredible bravery and discipline allowed the
infantry to continue moving forward under heavy
fire, even when their officers were killed.
Three more days of costly battle delivered final
victory (the battle ended on April 12, 1917.

Battle Scene

Outcome
The price was heavy: 10,500 casualties,
including 3,598 dead.
A boost for Canada; made our soldiers known
worldwide.
Today you can see the Canadian National Vimy
Ridge Memorial at the battle sight in France.
As a result of the victory, Canada won a seat
as a separate nation at the peace talks after
the war seen as a real international player .

The Canadian National Vimy


Ridge Memorial

BrigadierGeneral A.E.
Ross declared
after the war, "in
those few
minutes I
witnessed the
birth of a nation."

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/return-tovimy-ridge

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