The Legacy of Vimy Ridge

Almost every city and town in Canada has a monument to Vimy Ridge.  From a young age, Canadians are still taught that the Battle of Vimy Ridge was the event that forged Canada’s national identity.  Canadian historian Pierre Berton makes an accurate assessment of Vimy’s place in the national memory when he states, “you might attack the war and all its horrors, but you would not attack Vimy.  Vimy stood for more than a battle won; it also stood for Canadian ingenuity, Canadian dash and daring, Canadian enterprise…” (1). Canada had initially entered the war out of a colonial duty to Great Britain.  Most of the men who wore the Canadian uniform still thought of themselves as British first.  But, the years 1914-1918 characterized what some refer to as Canada’s “War of Independence”, and Vimy Ridge was the moment when Canada transformed from a colony to a nation.  The troops “went up the ridge as British soldiers, and came down Canadian”.

Victorious Canadian troops celebrate after Vimy
Image Courtesy of www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/vimy/index_e.html

French attempts to capture the Ridge earlier in the war had ended in disaster.  Over 100,000 soldiers had been killed trying to do so in May 1915.  However, no such failure existed in the Canadian offensive.  The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first time the Canadians had fought as an independent corps. It was also the first time that all four Canadian divisions had fought together.  They realized their unity and nationhood was forged.

The Canadian forces received international attention after they took Vimy Ridge in April 1917.  As a reward for their bravery and success, the Canadians finally received a Canadian general, General Arthur Currie.  Currie was promoted after the battle to succeed Byng as Commander of the Canadian Corps.  Furthermore, as a result of their success and performance in the war, the Canadians attended the Versailles Peace Conference as a separate nation.  This was a cornerstone in the long road that was Canada’s path away from Great Britain.  After Vimy, “Canadians themselves realized, almost with surprise, that they had become a nation instead of a loosely bound group of independent provinces grudgingly emerging from a colonial past (2).

There were vast strategic gains as a result of the Canadian victory as well.  The capture of Vimy Ridge was a huge moral and strategic victory over the Germans.  It allowed the British to look out over a large part of northern France, including the crucial coalfields of Lens and Douai, as well as the city of Arras (3).  Vimy Ridge rose 61 feet over the Douai Plain and protected a production area that was occupied by the Germans.  The Ridge was so vital that the Germans had been building fortifications around it since they had captured it in 1914.  Thanks to the Canadians, it was now in the hands of the Allies.

Canadian, British and American newspapers were full of praise for the Canadians’ sweep at Vimy Ridge.  The New York Tribune wrote an editorial entitled, “Well Done, Canada”, stating that “Canada has sent across the sea an army greater than Napoleon ever commanded in the battlefield” (4).  Vimy Ridge became one of Canada’s greatest moments in history and remains so to the present day.  The Battle of Vimy Ridge was an event that has bound together generations of Canadians and shaped our national identity.

The Canadian and French flags fly today at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial at Vimy Ridge
Image Courtesy of Veterans Affairs Canada, 2005.

Click here to watch a film about the preparation for Vimy Ridge.  This film aired as a commercial for Canada's "Historica Minutes", a campaign aimed to educate younger generations about the events and people that shaped Canada's national identity.

First hand account of soldier at Vimy Ridge
Image Courtesy of Capt. Ralphson

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