Battle of Vimy Ridge

History -- Military history -- List of battles

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first successful operation against the German Hindenburg Line during World War I.

Battle of Vimy Ridge
Conflict	World War I
Date	April 9-April 12, 1917
Place	Vimy
Result	Canadian victory
Combatants
Britain, Canada	Germany
Commanders
Julian Byng, Arthur Currie	Ludwig von Falkenhausen
Strength
30 000	???
Casualties
10 602 (3598 dead, 7104 wounded)	20 000

Vimy Ridge was thought to be an impregnable fortress. The Germans had fortified it with tunnels, three rows of trenches behind barbed wire, and numerous machine gun nests. The French and British had suffered thousands of casualties in previous attempts to take the Ridge; the French alone lost 150 000 men at Vimy Ridge in 1915. The Canadian Corps learned from the mistakes of the French and British and spent months planning their attack. They built a replica of the Ridge behind their own lines, and trained using platoon-level tactics, including issuing detailed maps to ordinary soldiers rather than officers or NCOs alone. Each platoon was given a specific task by their commanding officers, rather than vague instructions from an absent general. They also employed older techniques such as the detonation of large mines under the German trenches.

On April 2, 1917, the Canadian Corps launched the largest artillery barrage in history up to that point. They shelled the German trenches for the next week, using over one million shells. The attack was so loud that it could be heard all the way to London, England! At dawn on Easter Monday, April 9, the 30 000-strong Canadian Corps began the attack, using a creeping barrage, a new technique whereby soldiers walked across No-Man's Land just behind a continuous line of shells (an improvement over previous battles, in which both sides had often shelled their own troops). After less than two hours, three of the four Canadian divisions had taken their objectives; the fourth division, however, was caught by the machine gun nests on one part of the Ridge known as Hill 145. The 87th Batallion suffered 50% casualties, but the division captured the hill by the end of the day. By April 12 the Canadians controlled the entire Ridge, at a cost of 3598 men killed and 7104 wounded. The German Sixth Army, under General Ludwig von Falkenhausen, suffered approximately 20 000 casualties. The Canadians also took 4,000 Germans as prisoners of war.

The attack and objective had little grand-strategic significance, and as the simultaneous British and Australian attack to the south of the Ridge was unsuccessful, very little was actually achieved after the Canadian victory. However, in a war in which, battle after battle, thousands died for gains measured in yards, it had tremendous tactical importance, both in terms of relieving the city of Arras from immediate threat of attack, as well as proving that the war could be made to move once again, after years of stalemate.

After one year, in April 1918, the fact that Vimy Ridge continued to be held even as German advances reached the outskirts of Paris, was probably also quite significant, and provided a leverage point behind the lines from which the extremely effective counter-attack was launched. (See military technology during World War I).

To Canadians the name Vimy Ridge is very meaningful. It was the first time in the nation's history that its army fought as a complete organisation in an independent battle. The capture of the Ridge by the Canadian Corps, under the command of British General Julian H.G. Byng (with Canadian General Sir Arthur Currie acting as Chief-of-Staff), was a turning point for Allied Forces during the First World War. The Ridge had been one of the keys to the Germanss' defence system, fortified so extensively that it had been impervious to all attempts by Allied Forces to take it during the first three years of the war.

The Memorial

The battle is commemorated by the Vimy Memorial, at Vimy Ridge, in Givenchy-en-Gohelle, near Vimy, in the french Pas-de-Calais. It is Canada's most important memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War I.

The Memorial commemorates Canada's role in the First World War with stone figures that symbolize the values defended and the sacrifices made. There is a wealth of symbolism in its sculptures which help the viewer in contemplating the structure as a whole. Built between 1925 and 1936, the works of art, produced by Canadian war artists, record and illuminate the nation's military achievements by documenting, and commenting on, Canada's notable contribution.

The monument was designed by a Canadian architect and sculptor, the late Walter Seymour Allward. His design was selected from 160 others submitted by Canadians who participated in a competition held in the early 1920s. The two pylons, representing Canada and France, tower 27 metres above the base of the monument. Because of the height of the Ridge, the topmost figure - that of peace - is approximately 110 metres above the Lens Plain to the east. The land for the memorial as well as the surrounding 100 hectares were given to Canada by France in 1922 in gratitude for sacrifices made by Canada in the First World War and for the victory achieved by Canadian troops in capturing Vimy Ridge in April 1917.

This memorial was built by the people of Canada as a tribute to their countrymen who fought in the Great War and, particularly, to the more than 66,000 men who gave their lives to defend freedom.

As you walk to the front of the monument, you will see one of its central figures - a woman, cloaked and hooded, facing eastward toward the new day. Her eyes are cast down and her chin is resting on her hand.

Below her is a tomb, draped in laurel branches and bearing a helmet. This saddened figure represents Canada - a young nation mourning her fallen sons.

Vimy Ridge is today wooded with Canadian pines and maples, each tree planted by a native of Canada and representing the sacrifice of a Canadian soldier.