The+Battle+Of+Vimy+Ridge

By: Cathy Lee, Rubi Samano, and Oana Georgescu.

When Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, Canada was automatically dragged into war by the British foreign policy. Britain put together an army of eight million men, but the war was still a tough war to fight. There were high casuaties in the Battle of Ypres and the Battle of the Somme, with no real decisive victory. The British and French had fought many battles attempting to get Vimy Ridge back from the Germans, however, they were unsuccessful. Vimy Ridge was the key defence point for the Germans because it lead directly to the German's new Hindenburg Line; by possessing this ridge, the Allies would be able to be in a position of power over the Germans, and prevent Germans from shooting at soldiers advancing from the south. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a significant turn in the war for Canadians, because it was a decisive victory fought by the entire Canadian Corps. THE GEOGRAPHY OF VIMY RIDGE

- stretches eight kilometers across the western edge of the Douai Plain - North of Arras, France - maximum height: 110 meters above surrounding lowlands - northern tip rises abrubtly from Souchez ravine to a small knoll known as the Pimple or Hill 120 by the Canadians (Giesserhohe to the Germans) BATTLE PREPARATIONS

In mid-October, 1916, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Canadian divisions were withdrawn from the Somme. They left their artillery behind with the 4th division that continued the fighting at the Somme. After one more month of fighting, the 4th division was also withdrawn from the fighting at the Somme. The Canadian soldiers would spend the winter below Vimy Ridge in trenches preparing for their attack, with Corps held out a sixteen-kilometer stretch of front. Soldiers spent the cold winter strengthening defences, and carried out frequent raids to gain intelligence in order to prepare for the attack at spring. A soldier spend most of his time in the trench lines, and would sometimes come out of the line for rest, recuperation, and training. Trenches were dirty, muddy, cramped and infested with rats.

When not in trenches, soldiers went to battalion reserves, which were deserted farmsteads or cellars of destroyed villages that were well away from the field of artillery range. Soldiers were kept busy by carrying supplies forward to the trenches or repairing reserve trenches each night. Although the work the soldiers had was tiring, many soldiers preferred to be in these reserves rather than in trenches.

After many bitter lessons learned from previous frontal infantry assaults, the commanders knew that soldiers must be throughly trained in order to ensure a successful mission. Major-General Arthur Currie, Commander of the 1st Division had given special orders to "take time to train them." Each division was assigned a specific task to do, and men were specifically trained for the task. A full-scale replica of the battleground was laid out with coloured lines and flags, so that each man saw the ground over which he had to attack. Maps were given even to the smallest units, and the objective and routes was made clear to all soldiers. Canadians were kept together, so divisional and corps staff came to know each others' strengths and weaknesses, leading to better and more effective performance.

The last crucial step to winning the battle at Vimy Ridge was the system of tunnels the Allies used. Tunnelling had long been a technique used by the Germans, British, and French, and there were already many existing tunnels in No-Man's Land. The tunnelling engineers at Vimy Ridge connected the existing tunnels to build a new network of tunnels for the coming assault. Tunnels were useful for attack, because explosives in the tunnels would blow up the enemy trenches, leaving huge craters behind. Aside from the maze of tunnels, there were 12 subways dug deep into the ground, stretching for 5 km. The subways were effective in serving as a transport for soldiers, in which they would be sheltered from shelling, and soldiers could jump off at their jumping-off points during the assault. Subways also enabled a way for the wounded to be carried easily back to base. Some of the smaller tunnels (called saps) were strategically important for attack, for they would be sealed, then blown out when the battle began, and soldiers could surprise enemies by charging through the tunnel. The engineers also repaired 40 km of road leading to the forward area, and added 4.8 km of new plank road. The 32 km tramways were also fixed to enable light trains (hauled by gasoline engines or mules) could deliver supplies and ammunition.

Prior to the beginning of the battle, the Allies continuously bombarded the enemy with a massive artillery barrage starting on March 20. This task involved more than 245 heavy guns, and more than 600 pieces of field artillery. On April 2, the bombarding increased till by the time the infantry set out, more than one million pieces of artillery had been flung at the Germans. Seeing as 80% of the German guns had been detected by air reconnaissance and raiding, the majority of them were destroyed in the bombardment. German trenches were heavily destroyed, and new fuses in the artillery shells were able to rip apart barb wire, giving the Canadians an easier access across. This week of artillery barrage was called "the week of suffering" by the Germans. THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE

The battle commenced on Easter Monday at 5:30 am, April 9, 1917. Under the barrage of artillery, the soldiers began creeping across No-Man's Land. The first attacking wave was made up of 20,000 soldiers from the four divisions. Each soldier carried at least thirty-two kilograms of equipment, not to mention the heavy weight of mud on their uniforms, making it very difficult to manoeuvre around the trench and craters. Allied aircraft shot down German aircraft in order to keep the Germans from knowing the Allied soldiers' whereabouts. Billy Bishop, the famous Canadian fighter pilot, was awarded the Military Cross for shooting down a German balloon. There was some hand-to-hand fighting during this assault, and most of the casualties were lost due to German machine guns placed strategically in the German intermediate line. The Allies were able to overcome this line of German defence, and three quarters of the Canadian divisions were able to capture their objective of the Ridge by midday, which was right on schedule. In the final parts of this operation, the Canadian 2nd Division was joined by the British 13th Brigade.

The 4th Division's main objective was Hill 145, which was the highest and most important part of Vimy Ridge, but it was also the most heavily fortified. Once this position was taken, Canadians would have the advantage of being able to see all German rearward defences. The 4th Division's task was made difficult by German soldiers firing from the Pimple as well as Hill 145, so some soldiers attacking the Pimple had to be recruited to the 4th Division. On April 10, the Canadian soldiers were able to clear the Germans out of the summit, and placed Vimy Ridge in the Allies' power. Two days later, the 10th Canadian Brigade also managed to successfully capture the Pimple. The battle at Vimy Ridge was over, for the enemy accepted their loss and withdrew three kilometres. The success at Vimy Ridge was a major turning-point for the Allies; the Canadians had regained what France had lost, and had shown that a decisive victory with a lesser amount of casualties was possible. Canadians from coast to coast gained a sense of pride and nationalism, which helped win Canada a seat at the Treaty of Versailles.

"It was Canada from Atlantic to the Pacific on parade. I thought then... that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation."-- Brigadier-General Alexander Ross.

Canadian Casualties: 10,602 Canadians Dead: 3598 German Casualties: 20,000 Casualties from British, French, German struggles in previous battles: 200,000

KEY POINTS OF SUCCESS

- Tunnelling: system of tunnels made transportation of supplies and troops easier - Training: soldiers were given the proper training, and information about this battle. - The entire Canadian Corps participating in this battle: feelings of nationalism made cooperation easier - The superb fighting qualities and devotion to duty of soldiers on the battlefield. - The bombardment of artillery: destroyed German trenches, and kept them on their toes-- Germans did not know when the Canadians were going to attack. - Care in planning: Commander Julian-Byng and his right-hand man, Arthur Currie devised plans hoping to keep casualties low.

HEROES OF VIMY RIDGE AWARDED WITH VICTORIA CROSS

Private William Milne of the 16th Battalion crawled up to a German machine-gun that was firing on the advancing infantry. He bombed its crew and captured the gun. After, he stalked a second machine-gun, and was successful in overtaking it, but was killed shortly after.

Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton of the 18th Battalion charged a machine-gun post single-handedly by leaping into the trench in which it was concealed and killed its crew. He fought off a small party of Germans advancing through the trench, and was manage to hold them off until his comrades arrived. He was killed by one of his victims, who shot him with his last breath of life.

Private John Pattison of the 50th Battalion jumped from shell-hole to shell-hole until he was thirty metres away from an enemy machine guns, and then bombed the crew. After, he rushed to kill the remaining five gunners with his bayonet. Pattison was killed two months later in the war.

Captain Thain MacDowell of the 38th Battalion entered an enemy dug-out at Hill 145 and tricked 77 Prussian Guards into surrendering and captured two machine guns through means of trickery. He pretended he had a large force behind him, when in fact, his "large" force consisted of only two soldiers. MacDowell earned the Distinguished Service Order on the Somme, and was the only soldier out of theses heroes to survive the war.

QUESTIONS

1. Why were the Allies so keen on taking Vimy Ridge back from the Germans? 2. What was different about the preparation of this battle versus the preparation for previous battles? 3. What were the key points in the Allies winning this battle? 4. What was the most difficult German defence to overcome? 5. What was the significance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in the history of World War I?

GALLERY



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EXTERNAL LINKS Information about Vimy Ridge Cemetary at Pas de Calais, France: http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/ww1frenchcemeteries/lachaudiere.htm

Fast Facts about Vimy: http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/vimy/battle

Citation: "Battle of Vimy Ridge, April 1917." //Canada at War//. WWII.ca, 08 April 2007. Web. 20 Oct 2010. .

"Canada in the First World War and the Road to Vimy Ridge: The Battle of Vimy Ridge." //Veterans Affairs Canada//. Veterans Affair Canada, 16 Sep 1998. Web. 22 Oct 2010. .