Battle of Vimy Ridge

50.379°N 2.774°E / 50.379; 2.774

Battle of Vimy Ridge
Part of the Western Front of World War I
The Battle of Vimy Ridge after a painting by Richard Jack. Canadian War Museum.
Date April 9–12, 1917 Location Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France Result Decisive Allied Victory
Belligerents
Canada United Kingdom	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Julian Byng Arthur Currie	Ludwig von Falkenhausen
Strength
200,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
3,598 dead, 7,004 wounded	20,000 dead or wounded, 4,000 captured

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the opening battles in a larger British campaign known as the Battle of Arras during the First World War. It is also considered a major event in Canadian history for the key role the Canadian Corps of First Army played in the attack.

Background

The 475 foot (145 m) elevation of Vimy Ridge provided natural command of surrounding terrain with an unobstructed view for tens of kilometers in either direction. The German Sixth army fortified Vimy Ridge with tunnels, three rows of trenches behind barbed wire, massive amounts of artillery and numerous machine gun nests. The French suffered thousands of casualties in previous attempts to take it, including 150,000 men in 1915 when they temporarily gained the ridge but lost it to a counter-attack.

The Allied commanders decided to launch another assault in 1917. The duty was given to the still relatively fresh, but previously successful, Canadians. For the first time, all four divisions of the Canadian Corps were brought together. They were joined by the British 5th Infantry Division (in corps reserve), artillery, engineer and labour units, bringing the Canadian Corps to a strength of about 170,000 all ranks, of whom 97,184 were Canadians.

Haig argued he could not advance at Arras while leaving his flank exposed to Vimy, overriding Nivelle's opposition.

One of the few Allied successes of 1916 had been the French counter-offensive devised by General Robert Nivelle in the closing stages of the Battle of Verdun. Here, following extensive rehearsal, "eight French divisions, assaulting in two waves on a six-mile [10 km] front with exceedingly strong artillery support, had recovered ground lost ... and inflicted very heavy casualties on five German divisions." In January 1917, a group of officers, amongst them General Arthur Currie, a divisional commander within the Canadian Corps, were sent to study his methods employed. On his return, General Currie gave a series of lectures to Corps and Division on the lessons of Verdun. The battle and tactics plan used at Vimy Ridge reflect General Nivelle's influence.

Prior to the attack, a replica of the battlefield was constructed under Currie's personal supervision and the assault battalions were rotated through it. They were trained in platoon-level tactics, and were each given detailed maps of the assault area. Previously these had been issued to officers or NCOs alone. The objective was to give each platoon a complete picture of the battle plan and a specific task within it. This was to reduce the command and control problems that plagued World War I combat. (World War I battlefields were so big, the numbers of troops deployed were so large, and—in the absence of reliable radio/wireless—the primitive communications available were so difficult, that "generals [were] prevented from giving commands in battle".)

As with the Battle of Arras, tunnelling companies played a crucial role. They had been at work since December 1916 excavating a vast network of tunnels under the battlefield, enabling troops to be brought from Arras right up to the front line in secrecy and in safety. They placed mines under the German front line and dug long "subways" (tunnels), the ends of which were detonated at Z-hour, giving waiting platoons closer access to the German line.

German forces knew a major Allied attack was imminent, but they were ignorant of its exact date.

Battle

Canadian machinegun squad on the plateau above the ridge.

On March 25, 1917, the largest artillery barrage in history up to that point started. Over a million shells were shot onto the German trenches for 24 hours, a day, for a week. The German artillery pieces were hidden behind the ridge, but by using observation balloons in the air and microphones on the ground to triangulate the sound and flashes from their firing (techniques known as "sound ranging" and "flash spotting"), the Canadians were able to locate and destroy about 83% of the German guns. The German troops called this period the "Week of Suffering".

The Canadians also made many night trench raids during this week, although General Arthur Currie thought this was an unnecessary risk and a waste of men. The raids gained intelligence which "enabled the Canadians to take their objectives with lighter losses than would otherwise have been possible".

At dawn on Easter Monday, April 9, the assault divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked. The attack was so loud, the sound of guns could be heard plainly in southern England, about a hundred miles from the front. The first wave of about 15,000 Canadian troops attacked positions defended by roughly 5,000 Germans, followed by the second wave of 12,000 Canadians to meet 3,000 German reserves. Over 1,100 cannons of various descriptions, from British heavy naval guns mounted on railway cars miles behind the battlefield, to portable field artillery pieces dragged into place by horses, mules, or soldiers just behind the Canadian lines, fired continuously. Nearly 100,000 men in total were to take and hold the ridge. The first wave advanced behind a creeping barrage, known specifically for the battle as the Vimy Glide. This tactic had been used earlier at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and the Battle of the Somme but — again in the absence of voice control — required fine tuning. The officer sometimes credited for planning and coordinating the barrage was Brigade Major Alan Brooke, later better known as Field-Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff during World War II.

Additionally, the heavy artillery was strongly reinforced, with nine British heavy artillery groups supplementing the 1st and 2nd Canadian Heavy Artillery Groups, making a total of 245 heavy guns and howitzers. The supporting field artillery was also reinforced to include "seven divisional artilleries ... eight independent field artillery brigades, ... 480 eighteen-pounders and 138 4.5-inch howitzers". Also available if required were "132 more heavies and 102 field " and "a few heavy guns held under the command of the First Army". This fire power gave a density of one heavy gun for every 20 yards (18 m) of frontage and one field gun for every ten yards: in contrast, the proportions at the Somme had been one heavy gun to 57 yards (52 m), and one field gun to every 20. The artillery was under the overall charge of Brig-Gen. W.E.B. Morrison, a gunner from Guelph (and a close friend of John McCrae).

Canadian soldiers advance behind a tank

On Z-Day (the day the plan was enacted), all went well. The mines were fired, a blanket of shells from the barrage crept towards the German front line, and the men of the Canadian Corps walked closely behind it. As insurance, heavy machine fire, calibrated to four hundred feet to their front, arced over their heads towards the German lines. Corporal Gus Sivertz of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles later recalled:,

We were dancing a macabre dance as our nerves just vibrated to the thousands of shells and machine gun bullets... whizzing over. I felt that if I had put my finger up, I should have touched a ceiling of sound.

After less than two hours, three of the four Canadian divisions had taken their objectives; the 4th Division, however, was held up by machine gun nests on the highest point of the ridge, known as Hill 145. The 87th Battalion suffered 50% casualties. The 85th Nova Scotia Highlanders, who had been intended to function in a supply and construction role, were sent in as reinforcements and the hill was captured by the end of the day. The fight to take Vimy Ridge cost Canada dearly, but it would become clear that Canada won this battle because they made sure that they knew every part of land they were fighting on and prepared very well for what was to come. Additionally, the massed British and Australian divisions attacking along a 24-mile (39 km) front on the Canadian Corps' north and south flanks achieved their preliminary objectives.

Results

By April 12, the Canadians controlled the entire ridge, at a cost of 10,602 casualties (3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded). The German Sixth Army, under General Ludwig von Falkenhausen, suffered an unknown number of casualties, and lost approximately 4,000 as prisoners of war. The loss of the ridge forced the Germans to retreat to the lower Douai plain that was far more difficult to defend. It also seriously undermined German morale, as they had long regarded the ridge as one of their most impregnable strongpoints. Allied domination of the ridge also denied the German the rich coalfields of the plain. The Hundred Days Offensive counter-attack to the German Spring Offensive would ultimately lead to victory over Germany by November 1918.

Commentary

ON VIMY RIDGE.

To B.S.B., July 11th.

On Vimy Ridge I sit at rest

With Loos and Lens outspread below;

An A.D.C.—the very best—

Expounds the panoramic show;

Lightly I lunch, and never yet

Has quite so strong an orchestration

Supplied the music while I ate

My cold collation.

Past Avion through the red-roofed town

There at our feet our white line runs;

Fresnoy's defences, smoking brown,

Shudder beneath our shattering guns;

Pop-pop!—and Archie's puffs have blurred

Some craft engaged to search the Bosch out—

I hold my breath until the bird

Signals a wash-out.

Scarce I believe the vision real,

That here for life and death they fight;

A "Theatre of War," I feel,

Has set its stage for my delight,

Who occupy, exempt from toll,

This auditorium, green and tufty,

Guest of the Management and sole

Object in mufti.

And now along the fretted ground

Where Canada's "BYNG Boys" stormed their way,

I go conducted on the round

That GEORGE OF WINDSOR did to-day;

Immune he trod that zone of lead,

And how should I, who just write verses,

Hope to attract to my poor head

Their "Perishing Percies"?

Bapaume had nearly been my tomb;

And greatly flattered I should be

If I could honestly assume

The beastly shell was meant for me;

But though my modesty would shun

To think this thought (or even say it),

I feel I owe the KAISER one

And hope to pay it.

-O.S. in Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, July 25, 1917, page 50

Enduring legacy

The Battle of Vimy Ridge remains historically significant for Canada. It was the first time in the nation's history a corps-sized formation fought as a unit. The success of the attack which had resulted from detailed planning and a variety of innovative tactics, stood in stark contrast to what had happened at the Somme only months earlier, and sealed the reputation of the Canadians as among the finest troops on the Western Front. "In those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation" said Brigadier-General A.E. Ross afterwards.

Troops at Vimy Ridge in 1917 by photographer Jack Turner.

Some have suggested that Canadian unity was fostered—all nine provinces were represented in the order of battle of the Canadian Corps. As Pierre Berton points out in his seminal work, Vimy, the taking of the ridge achieved legendary status very quickly, and with it the attendant myths.

Battle after battle, thousands died for gains measured in yards, the breakthrough had tremendous tactical significance: it relieved the city of Arras from the immediate threat of attack and proved that the front lines could be moved forward once again. In all the battles at Vimy Ridge in World War I, there was a staggering cost in dead and wounded on both sides. Across 16 kilometres of ridge, approximately 200,000 men perished: French, British, Canadian, and German. Considering that typically there were three wounded to every man killed, the total casualties at Vimy during the War can be estimated at 800,000.

Four Victoria Crosses (VC) were awarded to members of the Canadian Corps for this battle: Private William Johnstone Milne (16 Bn CEF); Lance-Sergeant Ellis Welwood Sifton (18 Bn CEF); Private John George Pattison (50 Bn CEF); and Captain Thain Wendell MacDowell (38 Bn CEF).

Vimy Memorial

Main article: Canadian National Vimy Memorial

File:Vimymonument.JPG

The restored Vimy Ridge monument in 2007.

File:Vimy Memorial view SE to Arras.jpg

View to Arras

The battle is commemorated by the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, set atop Hill 145 near Vimy and Givenchy in the French Pas-de-Calais. It is the largest of Canada's war monuments. The land is a Canadian National Park and was given by the people of France to the people of Canada in perpetuity in recognition of Canada's war efforts on behalf of France.

The 1937 documentary film Salute to Valour shows the dedication of the memorial by King Edward VIII (prior to his abdication). In recognition of the great sacrifices made by Canada, the French government formally granted Canada the high ground of the ridge in perpetuity. Since the memorial officially stands on Canadian soil, it is tended by Veterans Affairs Canada. The plot of The Stone Carvers, a 2001 novel by Canadian author Jane Urquhart, revolves around the construction of the Vimy Memorial.

File:624592 Vimy.jpg

Vimy Ridge commemorative nickel (Canada), featuring the memorial, marking the battle's 85th anniversary in 2002

90th Anniversary of the Battle

Though memorial ceremonies have taken place on the Anniversary date for many years, a confluence of events brought the 90th Anniversary into sharp focus and attracted considerable attention. Simplest is the fact that it was the 90th, but, the Anniversary fell on an Easter Monday, as had the battle itself in 1917 which seemed to give it even more symbolic importance. The Anniversary was also built up in a groundswell of nationalistic nostalgia that has swept through the formal and informal community of Canadian historians and history educators in recent years. This movement is verifiable if one references the 'Further Reading' list below with its multiple 2007 publications.

The 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge was celebrated on April 9 2007, in many locations across Canada, and in formal ceremonies in the cities of Toronto (at Queen's Park), Ottawa, and at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial atop Hill 145 on Vimy Ridge in France.

At the Vimy Memorial over 25,000 people, primarily Canadians, attended a ceremony that commemorated the 90th anniversary of the battle and re-dedicated the Memorial itself upon the completion a multi-year restoration program. The 'pilgrims' to the Commemoration and Re-Dedication ceremony included over 5,000 Canadian students from all across Canada, many of whom were involved in a program that saw them representing a Canadian soldier who died in the battle at Vimy Ridge. The presiding platform party included her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II who formally re-dedicated the restored memorial, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who delivered speeches.

current flag display

Leading up to the 90th, a movement was initiated by the Royal Canadian Legion to have a historic Canadian Red Ensign flown at the memorial alongside the current Canadian 'Maple Leaf' and French flags. The Legion reasoned it was appropriate as the Canadians who had fought in 1917 had done so under the Ensign. According to a poll conducted by Ipsos Reid, 79 per cent of respondents supported the idea of flying both at the monument during the April 9 ceremony in Vimy, France. Initial Government press releases seemed to dismiss the Legion's request, citing government protocol which dictated only the current Canadian flag adorn federal monuments. However, on March 30, 2007, it was announced that a version of the Canadian Ensign would be flown at the memorial on April 9, 2007, and that an ensign of some type would be flown year-round in addition to the current Canadian and French flags. [2] The Legion donated a Red Ensign from the 1868-1870 period (i.e., a four province flag) and this continues to fly at the Vimy site. Some commentators, including Robert Watt, then the Chief Herald of Canada, noted that it might be more correct to fly the nine province flag that was flown in Canada and abroad between 1905 and 1921, since the Dominion of that period was made up of nine provinces.

Notes and sources

• Barris, Ted (2007). Victory at Vimy. Thomas Allen Publishers. ISBN 9780887622533
• Behrmann, Franz. Die Osterschlacht bei Arras 1917, I. Teil: Zwischen Lens und Scarpe. Berlin: Gerhard Stalling, 1929.
• Berton, P. (2003). Vimy. Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 0-85052-988-3
• Gustavson, Wesley C. "Fairly Well Known and Need Not be Discussed: Colonel A.F. Duguid and the Canadian Official History of the First World War," Canadian Military History, Vol. 10, No.2 (Spring 2001), 41-54
• "Vimy Ridge" in Oral Histories of the First World War: Veterans 1914-1918 at Library and Archives Canada
• Gilbert, Martin (1995). First World War, London ISBN 0-00-637-666-5
• Nicholson, Col. C.D. (1964). Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919, Ministry of Defence, Ottawa.
• Rawling, Bill. Trench Warfare: Technology and the Canadian Corps 1914-1918 (University of Toronto Press, 1992)
• Terraine, John (1980). The Smoke and The Fire: Myths and Anti-Myths of War 1861-1945" ISBN 0-283-98701-4

Further reading

• Barris, Ted (2007). *Victory at Vimy: Canada Comes of Age, April 9-12, 1917 Thomas Allen & Son Publishers ISBN 0-88762-253-4
• Berton, P. (2001). Marching as to War. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. ISBN 0-385-25725-2 and
• Berton, P. (1986). Vimy Multiple Publishers ISBN 0-385-65842-7
• Cave, N. (1997). Arras, Vimy Ridge. Cooper (Battleground Europe). ISBN 0-85052-399-0
• Federal Govt of Canada. (1992). Canada and the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Canadian Government Pub Centre.
• Hayes, Geoffrey. (2007). Vimy Ridge : a Canadian reassessment Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 9780889205086
• Turner, A. (2005). Vimy Ridge 1917: Byng's Canadians Triumph at Arras. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-871-5
• Wagner, Mark. (2007). Vimy Ridge : a War Well Fought
• Australian Official History, Volume 5 Page 139
• Russell, Thomas Herbert. America's War for Humanity

External links

• Mansbridge One on One with Ted Barris
• Legion Magazine focus on Battle at Vimy Ridge
• The Battle of Vimy Ridge Battle info, video footage and photos.
• Canadian War Museum — The Battle of Vimy Ridge, 9 April–12 April 1917
• Historica Minutes Vimy Ridge

• CBC Vimy Ridge Site
• Vimy Memorial in Google Maps