‘THEY DID NOT WAVER’
Vimy ridge, taken by Canadians, great bastion of enemy’s western front Further gains in last night’s fighting … London is stirred by the success of new offensive Great spring drive widens northward and Haig’s troops continue smashing advance Canadians
Ladies and gentleman, hundreds of thousands of Canadians crossed the cold, grey Atlantic to take a stand against tyranny and oppression. They left behind everything they knew to face a struggle they could not have imagined.
Today it is hard to believe possible the horrors that unfolded here on the 9th of April, 1917. This was a battlefield of corpses. The terrifying roar of massed artillery filled the air. As one Canadian brigade signalling officer wrote, ‘Imagine the loudest clap of thunder you ever heard, multiplied by two, and prolonged indefinitely.’ Bootdeep mud rendered each step a struggle, amidst the deadly relentless hail of bullets.
The events of that day saw the four divisions of the Canadian Corps serving together for the first time. They fought bravely and with great ingenuity. They succeeded in seizing the vital high ground of Vimy, a task in which many others before them had failed.
However victory came at an unbearably heavy cost. This was and remains the single bloodiest day in Canadian military history. Yet Canadians displayed a strength of character and commitment to one another that is still evident today. They did not waver. This was Canada at its best. The Canadians at Vimy embodied the true north, strong and free.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us never forget.”
Excerpt of the speech given by Prince Charles on Sunday at the Vimy Ridge monument during a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the battle.
The British offensive between Lens and St. Quentin, which opened spring operations and which is still in progress, has proven even more successful than the earlier accounts indicated.
General Sir Douglas Haig today reports that yesterday’s captures exceeded 9,000 men, while forty guns fell into the hands of his troops.
The Canadians, who had one of the hardest bits of the front to contend with, now hold the famous Vimy ridge, even its eastern slopes having been cleared of Germans. The Canadians also have repulsed German counter attacks.
OVERLOOK DOUAI PLAIN
These reactions by the Germans indicate the importance they attach to this position whence the conquerors look down over the plain of Douai. With Vimy ridge gone, the whole German line covering the French towns and industrial districts to the north becomes a wavering one, and any leisurely retreat the Germans may have planned is made uncertain and precarious.
With the capture of the famous ridge the British made a considerable stride along the road to Douai, while the capture of the high ground northwest of St. Quentin tightens the chain which the Anglo-French forces are drawing around that town.
A German diversion southeast of Ypres, according to General Haig ’s report, met with no success.
EXTENDS TO LA BASSEE
Correspondents at the front report the fighting continuing keenly throughout last night, with the British offensive gradually extending northward, there being fighting this morning in the direction of La Bassee.
Some 150 officers are among the prisoners already taken, these including five battalion commanders. Although forty guns captured is the official count so far, the number is expected to reach three figures, while quantities of trench mortars, bomb throwers, machine guns and ammunition also have been captured.
The Germans destroyed great quantities of supplies at the last minute to prevent their capture.
The weather continues bitterly cold, with snow flurries, but the British forces are clad in sheepskins and are kept well fed.