# A Canadian Victory : Vimy Ridge, 1917



## Maestro (May 23, 2009)

Greetings ladies and gentlemen.

A few important battles in WWI were won due to Canadian troops, or with major help coming from the Canadian Corp. (Well, at least from what we can see on the CBC and Historia channel.) So I decided to make a serie of threads about our different victories in WWI. Here is the first one, Vimy Ridge.

Taken from : Battle of Vimy Ridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



> *9 April*
> 
> The attack was to begin at 5:30 am on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917. The attack was originally planned for the morning of 8 April (Easter Sunday), but it was pushed back 24 hours at the request of the French. During the late hours of 8 April and early morning of 9 April the men of the leading and supporting wave of the attack were moved into their forward assembly positions. The weather was cold and later changed to sleet and snow. Although physically discomforting for everyone, the north-westerly storm provided some advantage to the assaulting troops by blowing snow in the faces of the defending troops. Light Canadian and British artillery bombardments continued throughout the prior night but stopped in the few minutes before the attack, as the artillery recalibrated their guns in preparation for the synchronized barrage. At exactly 5:30 am, every artillery piece at the disposal of the Canadian Corps began firing. Thirty seconds later, engineers detonated the mine charges laid under no man's land and the German trench line, destroying a number of German strong points and creating secure communication trenches directly across no man's land. Light field guns laid down a barrage which advanced in predetermined increments, often 100 yards (91 m) every three minutes, while medium and heavy howitzers established a series of standing barrages further ahead, against known defensive systems. During the early fighting the German divisional artilleries, despite heavy losses, were able to maintain their defensive firing. As the Canadian assault advanced, it overran many of the German guns because there was no means of moving them to the rear on account of many of the horses being killed in the initial gas attack.
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## Maestro (May 23, 2009)

Part II



> *Aftermath*
> 
> By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadian Corps was in firm control of the ridge. The corps suffered 10,602 casualties; 3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded. The German Sixth Army suffered an unknown number of casualties with an approximate 4,000 men becoming prisoners of war. Four members of the Canadian Corps received Victoria Crosses, the highest military decoration awarded to British and Commonwealth forces for valour, for their actions during the battle;
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## Vassili Zaitzev (May 23, 2009)

Good info Maestro!


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## Ferdinand Foch (May 25, 2009)

Ah yes, Vimy. One of the few places on the Western Front where the Allies actually achieved all of their objectives without bleeding their army to death. I'm still really amazed how the Canadians pulled that off (hats off to you guys).


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## siznaudin (Jul 15, 2009)

The very thought of taking this feature is daunting in the extreme: to visit this site was one of the most emotional experiences of my visit to the Western Front in '07. It is a magnificent tribute to those who gave their all.



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