A couple weeks back I had an opportunity to cover a parade to commemorate the legacy of Canada’s victory at Vimy Ridge during the First World War.
The battle, which took place from April 9 to 12, 1917, certainly deserves to be honoured. It marked the first time that all four Canadian divisions came together as one, it helped us as a nation receive respect from the world powers at the time — Germany included — and it paved the road for our nation’s independence from the British Commonwealth.
Before I came to the Journal over five weeks ago, I was a student in the Bachelor of Communication-Journalism program at Mount Royal University in Calgary. One of the great opportunities I was afforded while I was there was to serve as editor-in-chief of the university community newspaper, The Calgary Journal, last summer.
I was given the freedom to decide what each of the four 24-page print editions would look like. I knew that I wanted to do a feature on the First World War in August, considering it marked the centennial of Canada entering what came to be known as “The Great War.” In order to make the edition stand out from the dozens of other publications doing First World War features, my team and I opted to specifically highlight Calgary’s role in this bloody battle that lasted over four years.
During my interviews with the city’s war historians I would ask them about Vimy Ridge. All of them agreed that it was indeed a significant moment, but all of them refuted the popular notion that it marked “the birth of a nation.”
“People in 1915 and 1916 in the Canadian corps saw themselves as Canadian,” Mount Royal University war historian Stephane Guervemont told me. “We just decided after the war to say ‘Everything started at Vimy.’ You can’t do that because you can’t erase what happened before.”
If you have an opportunity to read literature on what Canada was able to accomplish prior to Vimy Ridge, like I was fortunate to do, I think you would come to a similar conclusion as Guervemont.
The centennial of one of those great Canadian moments prior to Vimy was this past week.
It was the night of April 22, 1915. The Germans had just achieved a major victory by destroying a defensive line, which protected the Ypres Salient that was extremely coveted. By using poisonous gas to overwhelm the French soldiers the Germans were able to create a clear-cut breakthrough of the Allied lines. The Calgary-based 10th Infantry Battalion was hastily called out of reserve into battle in order to seal this broken line.
The commander of this unit was Col. Russell Boyle. Before his men took off into Kitcheners’ Wood to battle the German Empire, he said to his men, “We have been aching for a fight and now we’re going to get it.”
Canada’s Scottish Regiment (16th Infantry Battalion) joined the 10th Battalion at 11:30 p.m.
The prospects for success were certainly extremely dire. The hastiness with which both battalions were called into battle provided the regiments with no opportunity to conduct proper reconnaissance of the area, and there was no chance to set up artillery support. The ‘surprise factor’ was the only thing on Canada’s side.
At midnight, the Canadians and Germans charged towards each other in a battle that featured heavy machine gun and rifle fire. Canada’s first major offensive operation of the war was a decisive success.
The German soldiers that were taken as prisoners ended up commending the Canadian’s fighting ability. According to the website of the Calgary Highlanders - a unit that perpetuates the legacy of the 10th Battalion - Allied Supreme Commander Marshall Ferdinand Foch considered the Kitcheners’ Wood attack “as the greatest act of war,” of the entire First World War.
Canada ultimately showed its mettle many times before Vimy Ridge. Some of the major military campaigns Canadians took part in during 1915 and 1916 include the Battle of Verdun, the Battle of Mont Sorrel, the Battle of the Somme and the Second and Third Battles of Artois.
I discussed one example of Canadian heroism during the First World War, but there are many. I encourage you to take some time to learn more about some of the incredible feats performed by brave Canadian men and women.
