The final battle we will talk about in this project is the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The battle of Vimy Ridge took place between April 9th and April 12th in 1917. Vimy Ridge was captured by Germans in 1914. Preceding this battle, Canadians dug miles of tunnels to make transportation easier. Soldiers were trained as riflemen, grenade-throwers and machine-gunners. This attack began after a three-week British artillery barrage by roughly 1,000 artillery guns. The British utilized the new 106 fuse that was much more effective than before. After the barrage ended, over 15,000 Canadians rushed the German trenches. This tactic was called the “Creeping Barrage” created by General Arthur Currie. The Creeping Barrage caused many deaths, but courage allowed the men to continue. Sir Julian Byng had this to say to the soldiers before they charged “Chaps, you shall go over exactly like a railroad train, on time, or you shall be annihilated,”. This battle marks the first time all four Canadian divisions worked together. Canadians would charge machine-gun nests and caused German surrenders in pits. The most important part of Vimy Ridge, Hill 145, was captured by Canadians with a frontal bayonet charge at machine-gunners. After three more days of fighting, Canadians took control of Hill 145. Hill 145 would become the location of the Vimy monument. The Canadian attack was successful in comparison to the British and French which were both failures. Even though the attack was successful, over 3,000 Canadians were killed and roughly 7,000 were wounded. After the war, Brigadier-General A.E Ross had this to say “In those few minutes, I witnessed the birth of a nation.”. The battle of Vimy Ridge is seen as many Canadians as when Canadians became united as one nation. |
ExploreDuring this battle, Canadians explored new tactics with the creeping barrage. They used new technology with observation balloons, aerial photographs and the new 106 fuse artillery shells.
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EncounterCanadians encountered German soldiers and heavy machine-gun fire.
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ExchangeCanadians exchanged casualties and Vimy Ridge with the Germans.
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