As always, click on pics to enlarge
Okay, now that I am stuffed to the gills with French food and French wine, maybe I can write something coherent….
About Vimy Ridge, it was attacked by both the British and the French, though neither could take the ridge and neither believed the Canadians would have much success. This battle was the first time all four Divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together. The attack was meticulously planned and preparations took months. A large part of the preparations involved tunneling underground through the chalk. Many km of tunnels, command posts and rooms were dug out underground to move troops and supplies as the German Army held the high ground and could watch everything.
The gov’t of Canada has preserved a small series of tunnels with Canadian students acting as guides. We booked a tunnel tour and due to some mix-up, which baffled the student guides, we were double booked with a busload of French kids. Luckily for us, the French kids were late so John and I got our own tour.
After the tunnel tour, we walked through re-constructed trenches then headed up to the monument. I will spare you the details of the battle, it was a huge success for the Canadian Corps, they took most of the ridge the first day, Hill 145, the highest point where the monument stands, was taken the following day. The battle resulted in 10,602 casualties of which 3,598 were killed.
The monument is breathtakingly beautiful and loaded with symbolism. The figure of Canada, a woman grieving for her fallen sons overlooks the Douai Plain. At the foot of the monument below her is a tomb draped in laurel branches with a helmet and sword on top. The soaring twin pylons symbolize Canada and France, at the base of the pylons is a young dying soldier, the Spirit of Sacrifice and the Torch Bearer. At the top of the monument are figures representing Peace and Justice, at the back are figures representing Truth and Knowledge. On either side of the staircase are the male and female Mourner figures.
There are 11,285 Canadian Soldiers names engraved on the walls of the monument. These soldiers have no known graves.
Our timing was impeccable, as we had the entire monument to ourselves for as long as we needed. As we walked away, a busload of French school kids arrived. Most of the land in the Memorial area has been left as it was at the end of the war; the land is pockmarked with shell holes from artillery fire and craters due to mine explosions.
After visiting the cemeteries at Vimy, we went to a large French memorial with masses of French graves, it was very high ground which the Germans defended strongly.
Then we headed to a few cemeteries where local men are buried, and then we were off to Upton Wood cemetery where many men of the 5th Battalion (Western Calvary) are buried. It is an isolated cemetery down a donkey trail in the middle of fields and just on the edge of Upton Wood. The farmers were harvesting something that looks like turnips, they are sugar beets, the farmers leave them in huge piles at the edge of the field. They have very small fields and one guy was plowing the field with a very narrow plow that flips over when he makes a turn at the edge of a field. Most of the tractors are American manufacturers, JD, Massey and Case IH.
There was a very sad note engraved into one of the headstones at Upton Wood and we are posting the pic.
As we were starving we dropped into a Hypermarket to buy some food, the wine and alcohol is really cheap, all of the food was cheap and the choice was great.
We had to get to one more cemetery to get another pic of a gravestone of a local man then we headed back to Arras in the dark. Oh, the French countryside is gorgeous; there are not many farms, as the farmers live in the small villages. The houses are of a simple design with gable ends but they are all in brick, which is beautiful.
The food is awesome of course. The breakfast in our small hotel was excellent and the attentive service unsurpassed. We splashed out for dinner tonight and went to a really good restaurant within walking distance, it was really good, we were foaming at the mouth. The place is really slow at this time of year, hardly anybody in restaurants, there were only a couple of Scots and a few French men and that was it.
Tomorrow we are heading south to the Somme and plan to walk the battlefield the Canadians fought through in the Battle of Courcelette. Then off to the Ulster Tower commemorating the Ulstermen (Northern Irish) then to Beaumont Hamel to the Newfoundland Memorial Park where the Newfoundland Regiment suffered a horrific loss on the opening day of the battle of the Somme.
About Vimy Ridge, it was attacked by both the British and the French, though neither could take the ridge and neither believed the Canadians would have much success. This battle was the first time all four Divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together. The attack was meticulously planned and preparations took months. A large part of the preparations involved tunneling underground through the chalk. Many km of tunnels, command posts and rooms were dug out underground to move troops and supplies as the German Army held the high ground and could watch everything.
The gov’t of Canada has preserved a small series of tunnels with Canadian students acting as guides. We booked a tunnel tour and due to some mix-up, which baffled the student guides, we were double booked with a busload of French kids. Luckily for us, the French kids were late so John and I got our own tour.
After the tunnel tour, we walked through re-constructed trenches then headed up to the monument. I will spare you the details of the battle, it was a huge success for the Canadian Corps, they took most of the ridge the first day, Hill 145, the highest point where the monument stands, was taken the following day. The battle resulted in 10,602 casualties of which 3,598 were killed.
The monument is breathtakingly beautiful and loaded with symbolism. The figure of Canada, a woman grieving for her fallen sons overlooks the Douai Plain. At the foot of the monument below her is a tomb draped in laurel branches with a helmet and sword on top. The soaring twin pylons symbolize Canada and France, at the base of the pylons is a young dying soldier, the Spirit of Sacrifice and the Torch Bearer. At the top of the monument are figures representing Peace and Justice, at the back are figures representing Truth and Knowledge. On either side of the staircase are the male and female Mourner figures.
There are 11,285 Canadian Soldiers names engraved on the walls of the monument. These soldiers have no known graves.
Our timing was impeccable, as we had the entire monument to ourselves for as long as we needed. As we walked away, a busload of French school kids arrived. Most of the land in the Memorial area has been left as it was at the end of the war; the land is pockmarked with shell holes from artillery fire and craters due to mine explosions.
After visiting the cemeteries at Vimy, we went to a large French memorial with masses of French graves, it was very high ground which the Germans defended strongly.
Then we headed to a few cemeteries where local men are buried, and then we were off to Upton Wood cemetery where many men of the 5th Battalion (Western Calvary) are buried. It is an isolated cemetery down a donkey trail in the middle of fields and just on the edge of Upton Wood. The farmers were harvesting something that looks like turnips, they are sugar beets, the farmers leave them in huge piles at the edge of the field. They have very small fields and one guy was plowing the field with a very narrow plow that flips over when he makes a turn at the edge of a field. Most of the tractors are American manufacturers, JD, Massey and Case IH.
There was a very sad note engraved into one of the headstones at Upton Wood and we are posting the pic.
As we were starving we dropped into a Hypermarket to buy some food, the wine and alcohol is really cheap, all of the food was cheap and the choice was great.
We had to get to one more cemetery to get another pic of a gravestone of a local man then we headed back to Arras in the dark. Oh, the French countryside is gorgeous; there are not many farms, as the farmers live in the small villages. The houses are of a simple design with gable ends but they are all in brick, which is beautiful.
The food is awesome of course. The breakfast in our small hotel was excellent and the attentive service unsurpassed. We splashed out for dinner tonight and went to a really good restaurant within walking distance, it was really good, we were foaming at the mouth. The place is really slow at this time of year, hardly anybody in restaurants, there were only a couple of Scots and a few French men and that was it.
Tomorrow we are heading south to the Somme and plan to walk the battlefield the Canadians fought through in the Battle of Courcelette. Then off to the Ulster Tower commemorating the Ulstermen (Northern Irish) then to Beaumont Hamel to the Newfoundland Memorial Park where the Newfoundland Regiment suffered a horrific loss on the opening day of the battle of the Somme.
Why do I feel like crying?
ReplyDeleteIf you were here you would flood France with your tears. We met the most passionate and wonderful New Brunswick student today who works for Veterans Affairs at Newfoundland Memorial Park, Kate would love it here and should look into this when she is in university.
ReplyDeleteI would be completely overwhelmed! that monument is absolutely breathtaking! And that headstone, it's heartwrenching.
ReplyDeleteTracy