Certainly more a remembrance than celebration. A further reminder Americans, by and large, know nothing of our northern neighbors.
Vimy Ridge Day remembers those Canadians who fought in the battle of Vimy Ridge, near Arras, France during World War I.
Begun on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, 30,000 soldiers from all 4 regiments of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought at Vimy Ridge claiming victory on 12 April.
It was the first time the 4 Canadian regiments saw action together, which helped create a new and stronger sense of Canadian identity. After Vimy, the Canadian corps continued valor and esprit d'corps raised Canada’s international stature, eventually earning a separate Canadian signature on the Treaty of Versailles, at the end of the war.
In 2003 the Canadian government declared April 9 as “Vimy Ridge Day” to honor and remember the valiant troops who battled at Vimy Ridge.
Toad
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4 comments:
Thank you for reminding your readers there were other countries in these wars too. If you are interested in that era there is a book I read last year called The Deafening - it takes place not far from where I live (in fact I will be doing a charity walk next weekend in Quinte) and half the book follows the story of a soldier in WWI. From a Canadian perspective of course.
http://mostlyfiction.com/world/itani.htm
I never knew. Thanks, Toad. I am off to google the topic.
excellent post. thank you for the lesson.
Thanks for the nice post about Canadian history! Vimy is indeed an important day for us -- it is really thought of as the birthplace of a distinct sense of "Canadian" identity as opposed to being simply a Dominion of the British Empire.
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