VIMY RIDGE
April 9th
AN ANNUAL COMMEMORATION PROJECT
By
The Army Cadet League of Canada
COMMEMORATING VIMY RIDGE
THE BIRTH OF CANADA AS A NATION
APRIL 9TH, 1917
THE ARMY CADET LEAGUE OF CANADA
THE ROYAL CANADIAN ARMY CADETS
THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION
ARMY NAVY AIR FORCE VETERANS IN CANADA (ANAVETS)
THE VIMY FOUNDATION
MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE
MINISTER OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
With images and quotes from
“At Vimy Ridge” Canada’s Greatest World War 1 Victory
Hugh Brewster
Scholastic Canada Ltd.
At 5:30 AM, EASTER MONDAY, APRIL 9TH, 1917 IN A FREEZING RAIN, 100,000
CANADIAN BOYS, VIRTUALLY EVERY CANADIAN SOLDIER IN FRANCE, WAS IN FRONT
OF VIMY RIDGE FORMED UP IN WHAT WAS CALLED, FOR THE FIRST TIME:
“THE CANADIAN CORPS”
THE CANADIAN CORPS WAS COMPRISED OF FOUR DIVISIONS ALIGNED
(FROM THE GERMAN VIEW) LEFT TO RIGHT.
A Division is approximately 25,000 soldiers.
ON THEIR SHOULDERS, COLOURED PATCHES IDENTIFIED THEIR DIVISION:
1st Division
(“Old Red Patch”)
THE
2nd Division
(The Iron Second)
3rd
Division
4th
Division
These Divisional patches continued in use by the Canadian Army during WWII.
Division Patch continued to be worn by Canadian Forces Europe into the mid 1970’s and
soon will be worn again when the red patch will be used as a unit identification by
special operations.
1ST
TO COMMEMORATE THE
BATTLE, THE VIMY
FOUNDATION HAS STRUCK A
LAPEL PIN .
NOTE THE DIVISIONAL
PATCHES POSITIONED AS THEY
WERE AT THE BATTLE FACING
THE RIDGE. THE 1ST (RED) ON
THE RIGHT OF THE CANADIAN
ATTACK UP THE RIDGE.
A GERMAN OFFICER
CAPTURED BEFORE THE
BATTLE OF VIMY BRAGGED:
“You may be able to get to the top
of Vimy Ridge, but I’ll tell you this:
you’ll be able to take all the
Canadians back in a row boat that
get there”.
IN PREVIOUS ASSAULTS,
OVER 160,000 BRITISH AND
FRENCH SOLDIERS HAD DIED
AT VIMY TRYING TO TAKE IT.
Canadian soldiers returning from Vimy Ridge May 1917
(Library & Archives Canada / PA-001332
On Easter Saturday April 8th, 1917
Lt. William George McIntyre
of the 29th (Vancouver) Battalion, 2nd Division
wrote home to his mother in Clearwater, Manitoba:
I hope not, but this may be a note of farewell, for we attack tomorrow
morning. If this must be goodbye I must try to acknowledge the
unrepayable debts I owe you for love and tenderness, encouragement and
sympathy, and high ideals all through my life – you have been the best of
mothers to us – and to ask forgiveness – I know it has been granted
already – for the pain and trouble I have sometimes cost you. God bless
you for all your goodness. I feel very cheery, and if my feelings are an
index I should get through this alive, but one never knows.
Lt. McIntyre was killed the next day on Vimy Ridge. He was 29 years old.
His Mother received the letter two weeks after being informed of her son’s death.
AT THE END OF THE BATTLE
10,602 OF THE BEST OF
CANADA WERE BLEEDING ON
VIMY RIDGE. . . .
3,598 BOYS FROM VIRTUALLY
EVERY CANADIAN CITY AND
TOWN LAY DEAD
GERMAN LOSSES WERE WORSE
INSPITE OF TREMENDOUS LOSSES, AN AMAZING PRIDE
EVOLVED IN THE SURVIVORS OF VIMY RIDGE FOR WHAT
WAS A SINGULAR CANADIAN ACCOMPLISHMENT. NEVER
AGAIN WOULD CANADIANS SERVE UNDER DIRECT
BRITISH COMMAND.
Canadian troops advance under shellfire
FOLLOWING VIMY CAME THE START OF WHAT BECAME
KNOWN AS CANADA’S HUNDRED DAYS. FROM 8 AUG TO
11 NOV 1918, THE END OF HOSTILITIES. THE CANADIANS
PURSUED THE GERMAN ARMY TO MONS, AND AT ONE
POINT ADVANCED 12 MILES IN 3 DAYS; UNHEARD OF AT
THAT POINT IN THE WAR.
THIS PRIDE AND INDEPENDENCE TRANSFORMED
ITSELF INTO CANADIAN NATIONALISM AND THE
RETURNING SOLDIERS SAW CANADA IN A COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT LIGHT AND NO LONGER AS A COLONY.
CANADA CAME OF AGE ON VIMY RIDGE!
Canadians enter Mons, 11 Nov 1918
THE ARMY CADET
LEAGUE OF CANADA IS
CHAMPIONING AN
ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE
OF THE BATTLE OF VIMY
RIDGE EVERY APRIL BY
ARMY CADETS, SIMILAR
TO THE SEA CADETS’
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
AND THE AIR CADETS’
COMMEMORATION OF
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
WHY SHOULD ARMY CADETS ADOPT THIS COMMEMORATION?
•
TO STUDY A SIGNIFICANT EVENT IN CANADIAN HISTORY
•
ALMOST EVERY AFFILIATED UNIT HAS “VIMY” AS A BATTLE HONOUR
•
TO UNDERSTAND THE FUTILITY OF WAR
•
TO APPRECIATE THE CONTRIBUTION OF MODERN DAY VETERANS
•
TO COMPREHEND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POPPY
•
TO FOSTER PRIDE IN ARMY CADETS OF THEIR AFFILIATION WITH
THE CANADIAN ARMY AND ITS ETHICS AND PRINCIPLES
What can Army Cadets do?
Activity at a cadet corps can be as large as a
parade in town in partnership with veterans’
organizations such as the Royal Canadian Legion
Branch, the ANAVETS’ Unit or simply a cadet
project to document the story of a Canadian
soldier that took part in the action on
Vimy Ridge.
ACTIVITIES BY ARMY CADETS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Organize a Parade with the Legion or ANAVETS
Give a speech to a local service club
Start a class project at school
Lecture members of the affiliated unit
Prepare a historical lecture for junior cadets
Address members of the local Legion Branch
Start a Facebook page with a “virtual parade”
Tweet “Vimy” details from your cadet corps
RELATED OPPORTUNITIES:
1.
Beaverbrook Scholarship
15 to 17 year olds apply on-line in November
for study the following summer. This year’s
qualifying essay:
“How WWI Affected my Community”
2.
Encounters with Canada
125 students from all over Canada come to
Ottawa for study of selected events and
subjects
SUPPORT
1.
The Army Cadet League site will feature
help suggestions and useful research tips
on its VIMY page on the website
www.armycadetleague.ca
2.
Other available support materials:
 Posters
 Brochures
 Advertising in print media
VIMY
TODAY
View of Douai Plain from Vimy
Ridge - Today
NOTE THE ROAD
View of Douai Plain from Vimy Ridge - 1917
IDEAS
HISTORICAL PROJECTS
IN ….
CABARET - ROUGE
BRITISH CEMETERY
…Near Vimy Ridge
ESTABLISHED IN 1916, CABERETROUGE CONTAINS THE GRAVES OF
MANY CANADIANS . . . .
INCLUDING LT. FREDERICK G. SCOTT,
THE SON OF CANON SCOTT (1 DIV
PADRE), AND A CLOSE FRIEND OF
CON SMYTHE, THE FOUNDER OF THE
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Norm Christie’s film series “For King & Empire”
THERE IS A PATTERN HERE . . . . . .
VIRTUALLY EVERY CANADIAN ARMY UNIT OF
THE CANADIAN FORCES HAS VIMY AS A BATTLE
HONOUR
THERE ARE 3,598 POSSIBLE STORIES TO BE
TOLD BY ARMY CADETS FROM VIMY RIDGE
ALONE
Entries in the book of remembrance at Cabaret Rouge cemetery
There is an army cadet corps in
Buckingham, QC
CC# 1573
Corps de Cadets Bassin de la Lièvre
Dedication of
the
87th Battalion
Cenotaph on
Vimy Ridge
Capt Fred Hannaford, MC and Bar
Joined as a Private in the 24TH Battalion at 19 years of age
Survived all the great battles including Vimy Ridge
Died as a Captain at Canal du Nord at 24 years
. . . . . one month before the war ended
The 87th Battalion is perpetuated by
The Canadian Grenadier Guards who
have 2 affiliated cadet corps:
CC# 2709 and CC# 1979
ON THE PIMPLE AT VIMY RIDGE, JUST IN FRONT OF GIVENCHY
WOOD, THERE IS AN ABANDONED CENOTAPH TO THE
44TH BATTALION
(1st Bn The Carleton Light Infantry)
______________________
The 44th Bn is perpetuated by
The Royal New Brunswick Regiment
There are a number of Army Cadet Corps in New Brunswick . . . .
Why was this monument “abandoned”?
FINAL THOUGHTS
VIMY PROVED TO BE THE TURNING POINT IN
CANADA WHERE CANADA BECAME A MEMBER OF
THE GREATER INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC SCENE
AND EARNED A SEAT AT THE 1919 PEACE TALKS.
THE MEN WHO FOUGHT THROUGH THE FIRST
WORLD WAR EARNED THIS FOR CANADA. THEY
INSPIRED THOUSANDS OF CANADIAN CITIZENS
BOTH IN THE MILITARY AND IN CIVILIAN LIFE.
IN HIS RECENT BOOK “LEADERSHIP” RICK HILLIER
REFERS TO THIS AS “THE VIMY EFFECT”.
HILLIER GOES ON TO QUOTE A TALIBAN LEADER
COMMANDER MULLAH HAJI MOHAMMED WHO WAS
INTERVIEWED IN 2010.
THE QUESTION WAS “ WHETHER FOREIGN SOLDIERS WERE
ALL COWARDS?”
“YES”, HE RESPONDED PREDICTABLY, “THEY ARE ALL
COWARDS, AND WITHOUT THEIR MACHINES, THEIR PLANES,
VEHICLES AND TECHNOLOGY, THEY WOULD NOT LAST A
MONTH.” HE PAUSED. “ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU DO HAVE
A FEW BRAVE INVADING SOLDIERS; FROM ALL THE
INVADING COUNTRIES, THE CANADIAN SOLDIERS ARE THE
MOST BRAVE”.
THE VIMY EFFECT . . . . . AT WORK TODAY IN CANADA’S
SOLDIERS.
MOVING FORWARD:
1.
COMPLETE GRANT APPLICATION TO DVA (Done)
2.
ASSEMBLE SUPPORT MATERIALS (In Progress)
3.
CIRCULATE INFO TO ALL INVOLVED (Started)
4.
GET BUY-IN FROM LOCAL CIC OFFICERS (Ongoing)
5.
CONTACT LEGION BRANCHES (After 11 Nov)
6.
DO IT ACROSS CANADA
ON/AROUND APRIL 9TH 2011
in partnership with VAC, the Legion and ANAVETS
Reproduction of the 1937 Pilgrimage medal
Remember them . . . . . .
Cabaret Rouge Cemetery, Vimy, at sunset
REMEMBER
HIM
The Army Cadet League of Canada
66 Lisgar Street
Ottawa, ON, K2P 0C1
1-877-276-9223
national@armycadetleague.ca
www.armycadetleague.ca