Vimy Ridge

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Vimy Ridge

• The Battle that Defined Canada

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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

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Location

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Battle

• Attacking together for the first time, the four
  Canadian divisions stormed the ridge at 530am on
  9 April 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.

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The Battle

• Hill 145, the highest and most important feature
  of the Ridge, and where the Vimy monument now
  stands, was captured in a frontal bayonet charge
  against machine-gun positions.
• Three more days of costly battle delivered final
  victory

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Battle Scene
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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.

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Brigadier-General A.E. Ross declared after the
war, "in those few minutes I witnessed the birth
of a nation." Video Vimy Ridge
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• With a partner, discuss the feelings that the
  soldier felt going back to Vimy.
• How did he view war?
• What can we learn about the soldiers by seeing
  his reaction?
• What feelings first came to you when you learned
  Canadas role in the major battle? Does it make
  you look at WWI differently?