Professor David J. Bercuson is a Senior Fellow with the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy and Director Emeritus of the Centre for Military, Security, and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.April 9, 1917: The morning was cloudy with intermittent rain and snow showers as some 80,000 Canadian soldiers waited in their chalk tunnels at the foot of Vimy Ridge. Located a few kilometres north of the German-occupied French town of Arras, the Ridge was a dominant feature in the front lines, captured by the Germans in October 1914, which gave them unlimited views of Allied positions to the north, west, and south. The British and French armies had tried to take the Ridge back but had failed, and now the Canadian Corps — four heavy divisions of some 20,000 men each — would try again.The Canadian Corps had never fought together before. The first division had arrived at the front in early 1915 and fought a hard defensive battle against German attackers at the Second Battle of Ypres. The Germans had used poison gas for the very first time in the war. They had driven the Canadians back, but the Canadian line did not break despite heavy casualties. The Second, Third, and Fourth divisions had entered the fray in the succeeding months, with the Fourth Division blooded at the end of 1916. Now under the command of British General Sir Julian Byng, the four divisions had prepared for this battle since January.The Canadian attack was to coincide with a British attack against Arras as soon as pre-battle preparations had been completed. That would take almost three months.Using lessons gained by the French army at Verdun, brought to the Corps by Canadian Major General Arthur Currie, who commanded the First Canadian Division, and lessons learned from the British in the previous 30 months, the Canadians were ready. Thousands of artillery shells had been stockpiled, Canadian and British gun positions had been trained on German artillery and German strongpoints on the Ridge, a full-scale mock-up of the Ridge had been prepared several kilometers back of the front to teach the Canadian attackers where German defenders could be found, and tunnels had been dug in the chalk to the foot of the Ridge to shelter the Canadian attackers as they advanced in the first wave of the attack..By this point in the war, the Canadians were prepared for the hard fight that lay ahead. Battle-tested in major confrontations from early 1915, the Canadian Corps had come together like a well-oiled machine. Although there was a lack of significant representation from French-speaking Quebec, Canadians from one coast to the other had learned the hard lessons of trench warfare and learned how to work together and trust each other in facing the enemy. The newly arrived Fourth Division was to attack on the most northern flank with the Third, Second, and First divisions lined up to the south.Several hours before the attack time of 5 am, a massive barrage opened fire on the Ridge, blasting German strong points and gun positions. At the appointed hour, the Canadians left their tunnels and followed a creeping barrage up the Ridge. German defensive fire was heavy, but the Canadians quickly built up momentum, especially in the south, where the First and Second Divisions made the deepest penetration on April 9. In the northern sector, the Fourth Division ran into heavy opposition at a feature known as “the pimple,” a small hill at the northernmost point on the Ridge. It would eventually take the Canadians three more days to capture the entire Ridge.The capture of Vimy Ridge did not significantly affect the outcome of the war. There was no breakthrough because none had been planned. The battle was what historians call a “set-piece” battle. The end of the war did not come for another 19 months. But the battle showed Canadians back home what their little army was now capable of. From then on, the Canadian Corps was referred to as the “shock troops of the British Empire.” And in succeeding battles to the end of the war, the Canadians led the way in almost every battle fought by the Imperial forces.Victory at Vimy did not come cheaply; the Corps suffered 10,602 casualties with 3,598 fatalities. But the victory has come to represent a significant event in the transition of Canada from colony to nation. On July 26, 1936, the Vimy Memorial at the top of the Ridge was dedicated as ground forever belonging to Canada, and some 6,000 veterans attended the ceremony. One observer recorded that at the moment of dedication, he saw all of Canada, from coast to coast, represented by the towering monument.Professor David J. Bercuson is a Senior Fellow with the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy and Director Emeritus of the Centre for Military, Security, and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
