Commemorating Vimy centennial
AMATEUR RADIO ENTHUSIASTS PAY TRIBUTE TO BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE
From Whitecourt and Edmonton to Chauvin and Calgary, Alberta radio amateurs took to the airwaves recently to tell the world of Canada’s victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Starting Feb. 5 and for the next six days, eight operators told the Vimy story to more than 1,700 amateur radio stations around the world.
VE100VIMY/VE6, the call sign used by the Alberta operators, was issued specially for the occasion by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. The call sign was issued to the Vimy Commemorative Station Society based in Richmond, B.C. The society was formed in 2012 and, with the co-operation of the amateurs’ national organization, Radio Amateurs of Canada, organized operations in all 13 of Canada’s amateur radio call sign areas.
Each call sign area activates VE100VIMY for a week from January to March. The culmination of the Society’s Vimy initiative will be roundthe-clock operation from April 1 to 9, by an international group of amateurs at the battle site at Vimy, France. More information may be found on the society’s website at ve100vimy.ca.
Alberta amateur operators participating were: Mitch Mitchell, VE6OH, Edmonton; Gerry Hohn, VE6LB, Calgary; Joel Weiner, VE6WQ, Edmonton; Bob Elsinger, VE6UX, Whitecourt; Dave Gervais, VE6KD, Sturgeon County; Bill Till, VE5FN, Lloydminster; Maurice Maa, VE6MAA, Fort Saskatchewan and Bill Hicks, VA6RQ, Chauvin. Joining with the previous six provincial activations in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, they talked with more than 19,000 amateurs on six continents, and 116 countries including Japan, Germany and Argentina and more remote places like the Falkland Islands and Antarctica.
Canadians are celebrating Canada’s sesquicentennial this year, 150 proud years as a nation. The Battle of Vimy Ridge is seen as an important step in the development of Canada’s nationhood. Alberta Radio Amateurs are justly proud leading in Canada’s commemoration of the centennial of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Lest we forget!