This battle is among the most famous of those fought by the Canadian military. It was in the chaos of this fight that Canadian independence was won, a stalemate was broken, and a unified national force was born.
Under a dark sky, in the early hours of April 9th, 1917, the Canadians went over the top, to complete a seemingly suicidal mission; The capture of Vimy Ridge, the strongest bastion of defence in the Great War,
which was firmly in the hands of the Prusso-German Empire. Comrades fell and guns thundered, but the Canadians had triumphed.
This website chronicles this victory, both for the Allied powers, and for Canada, representing one of its greatest military accomplishments. When war broke out, Canada was only about 50 years old, and its military was in its infancy.
In peacetime, the army consisted of a mere 3,000 men, but during the course of the war it would undertake a rapid expansion, to almost 650, 000 members. Many of them would not return, 10% being killed in the bloodbath of the war.
But remember, war carries a dire toll, not just for the defeated.
