The Battle of Vimy Ridge

One of the strongest points of Canadian pride in my mind is our accomplishments in the World Wars. We didn't have the highest numbers of soldiers, but our men fought exceptionally bravely and seemed to repeatedly do the impossible. Due to our fighting strength and bravery, many would say Canada went into the war as a piece of Britain ownership and came out as a sovereign country. In honour of Remembrance Day, this blog will be written about the battle of Vimy Ridge, one of the most memorable moments in Canadian war history. 

The actual battle took place between April 9-12 in 1917. The Germans held the high ground on a long cliff, seven kilometres in length rising gradually, in France. At the apex, the Germans held an unobstructed view of a vast portion of the land. It was a German stronghold, heavy with fortifications and critical in the plans to take win the war on the western front - the Nivelle Offensive needed the taking of Vimy Ridge to allow for a southern flank that would be undisturbed by artillery fire from above. 

The Allies had already tried to Vimy Ridge twice; the French were the first to lose when they attacked in the Second Battle of Artois. They briefly captured the territory but due to a lack of reinforcements and supplies they were unable to hold the line. They tried once more sometime afterwards, but were again unsuccessful. In the battles for Vimy, the French lost over 100,000 casualties in their attempts to control the ridge and the territory surrounding it. 

The Canadian attack plan...
Uh... it's in there somewhere.

The British were the second to make an attempt. They were called in due to German tunnellers setting off explosives to damage French positions near the ridge. The Royal Engineers (I'm pretty sure Britain just puts "Royal" in front of everything to show it's theirs) deployed their own tunnellers in an attempt to counteract the Germans. However, artillery and mortar fire sent them scrambling, and a German assault forced them out. As a result, the Germans captured a number of previously British controlled tunnels that were constructed shortly before. 

This is when Canada comes in. Britain and France, unable to take Vimy, had to call in their kid to take care of business. Sir Julian Byng, governor general of Canada at the time, took over operations and for the first time in Canadian history had all four divisions of Canada's forces working on the same operation. Augmented by the British artillery, engineers and resources, the Canadian Corps had 170,000 men under their control, 97,184 of which were Canadian. France provided their support in terms of knowledge they have gained through attacking Vimy Ridge previously - how the territory looks, where the trenches are, and so forth; basically what to expect when the battle took place. 

Eyesight wasn't as good back then, so maps, like this
one demonstrating the trenches of Vimy,
had to be pretty big. 

The plan heavily relied on speed. The idea was to "leapfrog" their forces one after another in order to be consistently attacking, leaving no time for the German forces to properly cover their retreat as they were pushed back. They also planned to use the idea of "creeping artillery", which meant consistently bringing the artillery at hand closer to the line and moving step by step up the ridge, clearing a path for the ground forces to advance. The plan was to move 4,000 yards by 1:00 p.m. on the first day, starting around dawn (about 5:30 a.m.). This required a massive amount of artillery and a complex plan of attack. Small units were important, as the idea of firing and moving forward was integral to the plan of attack. The planning for the battle was immense: large practice battles using hills for cover and men on horses holding flags to mark artillery movements were used to give an idea on how the battle was to go forth. A large number of maps were also given out to even somewhat low ranking officers to allow them to understand not only their objectives, but their role in the mission as a whole. The German defensive planned to have a sufficient force to stem the initial force and have reinforcements replace them from a fair distance away, allowing their men to not be consistently affected by the loud pounding of the artillery fire. 

You don't mess with Byng. The majority of the
Allies' artillery fire was attributed to his stare alone.

On March 20th, the attack commenced - sort of. The idea is not to simply run face-first into the battle, and a lot of preliminary assaults had to be made. For two weeks, allied artillery bombed the defences, destroying fortifications, trenches and any number of German holdouts to begin to level the surface to make for an easier assault. The following week even more artillery was brought in for what would be called the "Week of Suffering" for the German defences. The trenches were ravaged, and the morale of the defending soldiers was depleting. Having to be on high alert mixed with the physical trauma of consistent bombing took its toll. After these many days of almost constant artillery bombardments, the final step was about to take place. 

On April 9th the main assault began. The weather was cold, with a wind paired with snow. While it was uncomfortable for both sides, the attacking side benefited more due to the direction of the wind - the wind was at the backs of the allies, meaning it was blowing in the faces of the German troops. That, and the forces were mostly made up of Canadians - the majority of our life is completed while cold. That meant that the planned assault was surely to continue, as it had already been delayed for a day due to unrelated reasons. For the first time in what must have seemed like ages, the artillery stopped for a moment. However, this was hardly a reprieve, as the purpose of the sudden quiet was not to let up, but rather to gather the artillery for a combined assault, rather than consistent, spread out firing. At exactly 5:30, the weapons fired together, as well as detonating the mine charges that the British had placed earlier. After the artillery had sufficiently dismantled the defences, the first wave of Canadians poured through. The swiftness of the assault prevented the Germans from properly reacting effectively, and the first day of the assault was mostly successful, save for Canada's fourth division. They had requested a portion of the trench be left undamaged, I assume to use it when the land was taken by their troops, but the plan backfired heavily. The defences, undisturbed by the siege, killed many of the attackers and the defending forces held until they were out of ammunition. 

Either an exploding mortar, or a Canadian soldier
punching the ground due to frustrations of not taking
Vimy fast enough.

The following day the attacks began in much the same manner, with the creeping artillery moving ever forward and dismantling the defences as they pressed up the hill. The idea of leapfrogging began as British troops reinforced the Canadians to propel themselves faster into position, overtaking the Germans before they could properly defend themselves in retreat. The peak was taken briefly, but a German counterattack brought it once again under their control. However, seeing as they would not be able to hold it, they evacuated. It was a successful day. 

April 12th was the final battle, after a one day delay at the request of the French. Gas was fired into the defences to cause confusion, and artillery continued to disrupt the defensive positions. The last bastion of defence was what was called the "pimple", a high-ground that was heavily fortified. Beginning the day at 5:00 a.m., the Allied forces took the ground at 6:00 p.m., winning the battle for Vimy Ridge. 

In the end, 3,598 of the victors were killed, with another 7,004 wounded. 4,000 German soldiers were taken prisoner. Four Canadians received the Victoria Crosses, the highest military award that can be given to the British and commonwealth forces for valour in the face of the enemy. The result was a strong sense of Canadian national unity, and many would argue that through the blood that was shed on Vimy Ridge, Canada became a country rather than a colony. Following the War, the French would grant use of the area to the Canadians to be made into a war memorial which still stands today. 

True north strong and free, man. True north strong and free.

Famous Historical Figures Say the Darndest Things!

1. "For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack. On approaching the first objective, Pte. Milne observed an enemy machine gun firing on our advancing troops. Crawling on hands and knees, he succeeded in reaching the gun, killing the crew with bombs, and capturing the gun. On the line re-forming, he again located a machine gun in the support line, and stalking this second gun as he had done the first, he succeeded in putting the crew out of action and capturing the gun. His wonderful bravery and resource on these two occasions undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his comrades. Pte. Milne was killed shortly after capturing the second gun." William Johnstone Milne's military citation for his Victoria Cross. As true a Canadian hero as any. 
2. "A standard had been set in meticulous preparation, training and staff works, receptiveness to new techniques and [the embrace of] tactical innovations." Words of the biographer for Byng. 
3. "Lions led by donkeys." This was a phrase used to speak of the British generals leading the men in World War I. It's a darn good thing Canadians were there.