On the morning of 9 April 1917 the four divisions of the Canadian Corps moved to take the ridge at Vimy, after days of preliminary bombardment. The task was daunting, even impossible, yet it succeeded thanks to careful preparation and the use of innovative tactics. The cost in lives was horrendous, as casualties along the static front mounted.
In 1922 France ceded 1 sq. km of Vimy Ridge and environs in Pas-de-Calais to Canada where, in 1936, the soaring national monument to the 66,000 Canadian dead in World War I was inaugurated by King Edward VIII.
On Easter Monday, 9 April 2007, the monument will be re-dedicated on the 90th anniversary of the landmark battle, by H.M. the Queen and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin will also be at the high-profile event. Thousands of Canadians, including many young, will attend. Her Excellency Governor General Michaëlle Jean will mark the day at the National War Memorial, Ottawa.
Villepin ended his elegant address with "Vive la république, vive la France!" Why did he omit "Vive le Canada!"?
Not a celebration of victory, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial solemnly commemorates the sacrifice of lives in the struggle of nations, and the grief of a young nation just coming into its own.
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