May 29, 2019
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is probably the overseas memorial most familiar to Canadians. It stands in commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge of April 2017, which was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. The Canadians were successful in taking the ridge, and that success has been a source of Canadian pride.
Around its base are carved the names of 11, 285 fallen soldiers with no known graves.
The famous memorial is strikingly beautiful, gleaming white in the landscape. It looks fully modern, but was designed in 1921 and formally unveiled in 1936. It suffered much degradation over the years, but was fully restored and rededicated in 2007. It looks pristine today.
Two kilometres from the memorial is a network of preserved trenches and tunnels that were once at the front line of the battle. Where once were sandbags, now there is concrete, and the mud floors are now pavement. Still, there’s a lot to be learned walking those twisting pathways. The site makes real the stories and the movies. We were guided through the site by a Canadian student, whose pleasure it was to have a summer job there, along with some twenty others working in the area. There’s something very right about involving young Canadians in keeping this history alive.
There are a number of Canadian cemeteries in the area. This shot is from a small one called Nine Elms, which we visited thanks to cousin Richard's recommendation. It takes a while to sink in, that each of these cemeteries is on a battlefield, that these men fell right here, or very close by.
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is probably the overseas memorial most familiar to Canadians. It stands in commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge of April 2017, which was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. The Canadians were successful in taking the ridge, and that success has been a source of Canadian pride.
Around its base are carved the names of 11, 285 fallen soldiers with no known graves.
The famous memorial is strikingly beautiful, gleaming white in the landscape. It looks fully modern, but was designed in 1921 and formally unveiled in 1936. It suffered much degradation over the years, but was fully restored and rededicated in 2007. It looks pristine today.
Two kilometres from the memorial is a network of preserved trenches and tunnels that were once at the front line of the battle. Where once were sandbags, now there is concrete, and the mud floors are now pavement. Still, there’s a lot to be learned walking those twisting pathways. The site makes real the stories and the movies. We were guided through the site by a Canadian student, whose pleasure it was to have a summer job there, along with some twenty others working in the area. There’s something very right about involving young Canadians in keeping this history alive.
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| Reconstructed trenches |
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| A tunnel deep under the trenches at Vimy, as it would have been while in use, minus the bright lights |
1 comment:
I am so glad that you visited our fellow Canadians who sleep in Nine Elms, a cemetery laid out by a Sergeant of the 14th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force - The Royal Montreal Regiment. We will remember them.
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