VIMY RIDGE
The Germans occupied Vimy Ridge, a seven-kilometre-long area near Arras, in northern France. The geography offered a commanding view over the surrounding countryside, making it easy for the Germans to defend the Ridge against advancing forces. Previous British and French attacks on the Ridge had been unsuccessful and had resulted in more than 150,000 casualties.
In early 1917, the Canadian Corps under the command of Lieutenant- General Sir Julian Byng was tasked with capturing Vimy Ridge as part of a larger offensive in the Arras area.
Lessons learned in the previous battles led Byng to subject Canadian troops to intense training using new tactics to better prepare soldiers to help them to make quick decisions on their own that were still in keeping with the overall plan. Small units and individual soldiers were given much more information about the battle, and were expected to exercise initiative in keeping the advance moving, even if their officers were killed or wounded.
Byng’s plan of attack was meticulously prepared. Infantry rehearsed their roles on mock-ups behind the lines; light rail lines were built to carry supplies forward and the wounded back; tunnels under the ridge were carved out to lay mines or to shelter troops from hostile gunfire.
At daybreak on April 9, 1917, Easter Monday, nearly 1,000 guns opened fire on the German positions. An estimated 15,000 Canadians advanced towards the ridge in the first wave, with thousands more behind them. Amid intense fighting, the Canadians captured most of the ridge that day and the remaining portions of it three days later.
Over four days of bloody fighting, the Canadians took Vimy Ridge at the cost of more than 10,600 men killed or wounded.
The battle of Vimy Ridge is an important symbol for Canada as the place where Canadians from across the country delivered an unprecedented victory. Vimy Ridge represents the first time in the war that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together.