‘A fairy tale for overage boys’
CBU professors question mythology behind the Battle of Vimy Ridge
Two Cape Breton University professors questioned the popular mythology that the Battle of Vimy Ridge represented the birth of Canada as a nation at an event at the university Friday, in advance of events to mark its 100th anniversary.
David Johnson and Sean Howard examined the issue as they hosted a critical examination of how the First World War battle has come to be presented in the context of Canadian history.
“It is akin to a fairy tale for overage boys who want their history to be as heart-thumping and simplistic as a video game,” Howard said.
Johnson said it was a stunning one-day tactical victory and they did use innovative tactics, noting the British and French had tried to recapture it from the Germans but failed.
“They punched a hole in the German line,” he said. “The tragedy of Vimy was that it was a subsidiary element of another subsidiary campaign … there were no British reserves to come to take advantage of the breakthrough, the Canadian corps was spent.”
Johnson said the Canadians were not expected to break through and the great offensive was supposed to come elsewhere and the Allies weren’t in a position to take advantage of the Canadian victory.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge will be officially commemorated on Sunday with ceremonies in Ottawa and at the Vimy Memorial in France. Its centenary has sparked much discussion of the role that it played in Canada establishing itself on the international stage.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge claimed the lives of 3,598 Canadian troops and wounded 7,000 and is generally regarded as a great victory for Canada.
Johnson said the battle plan was that the Canadians would take the ridge and hold it. He noted that April 19, 1917, was Easter Monday and the weather was miserable.
“These guys didn’t get snow days,” Johnson said.
“Vimy does have a grip on a certain element of the Canadian psyche, the fact people talk about Vimy and certainly if you’ve been there it is a remarkable, moving sight,” he said. “I tend to think that one of the reasons why we tend to focus on Vimy is that in the histories of the First World War … most of the history of the First World War is bleak.
Howard, who is also a member of Peace Quest Cape Breton, said stating that Canada demonstrated maturity at Vimy Ridge is, “at least, contestable.” He said the patriotic pageant is burying the real Vimy.
“The Vimy centenary should be a time at least to begin restoring the full picture of what happened that day and in the weeks and months that followed, to confront what in all historical honesty it meant.”
Howard said the American entry into the war to counter the German naval blockade was an event that really mattered in the outcome of the war.
“Vimy, in sum, was just part of the vortex. No unique birthplace, but one in a series of bloodbaths,” Howard said.
“These then are the outlines of the true story that slowly turned into the maple syrup myth now spoon-fed to the country.
Howard said the “birth of a nation” theme really originated 50 years after the battle took place.
About 50 people attended the CBU discussion.