Trudeau to mark 100 years of Vimy battle

Prime Minister plans to visit the fertile countryside where thousands lost lives

An ocean away from home, spilling their blood on a remote ridge in the muddied battlefields of northern France a century ago, many would argue that Canadians earned nationhood.

Vimy Ridge has become much more than a speck on a French map, even much more than a famous First World War battle.

In a fledgling nation looking for a sense of self, trying to set it apart from British rule, the battle provided everything it needed — the vision of an underdog beating the odds, a show of courage, resolve and unity.

“It made the Canadian Corps think it could do anything. It made the soldiers believe that they were really good soldiers, better than anybody else. They had done something that the British and French were not able to do,” said Professor Jack Granatstein, a Canadian military historian.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to visit the fertile countryside tomorrow, where any hill with a view was fought over with a blind determination costing thousands of lives.

Strategic post

British and French forces had tried for a long time but failed to take Vimy Ridge. The Canadians succeeded on April 9, 1917, battling through snow and sleet to push out the Germans who had long held the strategic post.

The Canadians came, succeeded, at the price of 3,600 dead and over 7,000 injured.