Paying respects at Vimy
Taking an memorable trip to an extraordinary memorial in a military-favoured Jeep
Four-wheel drive, able to carry a crew of three, 203centimetre wheelbase and 119-centimetre track, 660pound payload, 85 pound-feet of torque and empty weight of no more than 1,300 pounds. And a folding windshield.
These were the specs that launched a million Jeeps. (Well, actually, way more than a million. Heck, the Jeep brand sold 1.4 million vehicles globally in 2016, alone.)
Those were the specs the U.S. army demanded for a 1/4-tonne “light reconnaissance vehicle” to serve in the Second World War in the early 1940s. Of the 135 companies that the U.S. army solicited, only three responded and the final design incorporated elements from Ford and Bantam in addition to the winning bid from Willys-Overland — and Ford would also pitch in with production.
The reason the army was so enamoured with the Jeep was its amazing flexibility. The Willys MB could be fitted with up to a .50 calibre machine gun and was easily modified for long-range patrol, odd jobs and as field ambulances. Because of their small dimensions and light weight, they could be transported in aircraft and even light gliders, which were used in the D-Day operations.
Fast forward seven decades and the seventh-generation JK Wrangler is set to give way to the 2018 JL generation, and the brand’s history is now more important than ever. It was a perfect time for us to pay our respects to the 75th anniversary of the Jeep brand, the 150th anniversary of Canada’s independence and the 100th anniversary of one of Canada’s defining moments, a battle that galvanized a young Canadian nation: the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Now, Jeep wasn’t even a twinkle in anyone’s eye in the First World War, but its roots in military service made it a natural choice for us to help pay our respects and revisit our own history by driving a new example to this historically significant place in France.
Interestingly enough, the Jeep we drove on this voyage was a taste of something that’s not available in North America: a Diesel Wrangler. Logically, its 2.8-litre, four-cylinder Diesel is a perfect fit, as increased range and low-end torque are two things any adventurer, or military for that matter, would never turn down, and Diesels offer exactly those benefits over their gasoline-powered equivalents.
We set out from the outskirts of Paris, heading north to the Picardy region of France, which is littered with small roadside cemeteries honouring casualties of the First World War.
As you go further into the region, the history and cost settles on your shoulders like a weight.
Around every turn, there is another small plot, in the middle of a field or off the side of the road, where rows of tombstones, some by the dozen, some by the hundreds, bring home the scale of the conflict and the price in lives.
When we arrive at Vimy, I spend some time finding somewhere to test the Wrangler’s abilities off-road, but short of risking the old no man’s land, it’s a walk in the park for the most capable Jeep.
Where it is noisy and wanders around its lane on the highway, and feels claustrophobic in parking lots and the city, it seems right at home in the rutted dirt tracks that serve as support roads on the Vimy Memorial property. The Diesel is noisy and coarse, but the torque can pull it right out of slippery mud and get it up to speed without trouble.
Photos taken and Jeep muddied, I moved on to exploring the Memorial itself.
My first reaction was awe at the beauty and majesty of the monument. The twin spires, white and solid against a fairy tale cloudy blue sky, are as dramatic as it gets, one tower emblazoned with the maple leaf, the other with the Fleur-de-lis to represent the shared sacrifices of the Canadian and French effort. As you approach, you see the detail of the sculpted figures, all noble ideals represented in stone, all mourning such loss.
As you finally arrive, the names of each and every Canadian soldier whose body was not recovered is carved around the base, more than10,000 of them, and that’s only a fraction of the 67,000 Canadian soldiers killed in the war.
Someone has left a boot and a tiny Canadian flag under the Murphys, and 100 years melt away in tears, each name carved representing a life cut short.
France recognized this momentous achievement and the sacrifice of the Canadian nation by ceding Vimy Ridge and the land surrounding it to Canada in1922. The dramatic monument was finished in 1936. While the events we at AutoGuide fly to usually serve to highlight the car, this time, the Jeep was just the vehicle to get us out to something truly special, an unforgettable experience.
We could have driven Jeeps anywhere and they could have taken the spotlight, but instead we came here, where the vehicles we drove would fade to the background in the face of history — and a memorial with a wealth of symbolism and pride and sorrow and hope.