Commemorating today the battle which helped define Canada as a country: 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

castnblast;
Good evening to you sir, hopefully this finds you well.

Thanks for the post reminding us of this pivotal event in both WWI and our country's history.

All the best to you all this Easter.

Dwayne

Our city hall has been flying the Red Ensign at half-mast since yesterday. A nice touch to remember the lives lost fighting under that particular flag.

Interesting post. Had not heard of it, so a quick search revealed lots of info. Thanks for posting it.

While Canada was still part of the "Dominion", and was supposed to be using the British Union Jack, most Canadian units going into action hoisted the Canadian Red Ensign as a Battle Flag.

The Canadian forces started developing their own identity prior to Vimy Ridge and that great battle only served to solidify a growing independence.

The Gallipoli Campaign in the same war served to showcase both New Zealand and Australia similarly.

Well Done Canadians! May we never forget their sacrifice and courage.

Amen! Better friends and neighbors would be hard to find. May God bless your brave men that made the ultimate sacrifice! They will not be forgotten.

The commemoration of Vimy Ridge, not so much the battle, is what is truly the nation building part. Canadian actions in the last 100 days of the war are even more impressive. Putting it simply, Canadians whipped the sh** out of the
Germans. Brits take credit for these actions.

Start of 1917 the only undefeated army in Europe was the Canadian army. During the last year of the war, the Canadians and American did about the same, prisoners, guns captured, etc. The American army was 10x the size of the Canadian. No, knock on the American dough boys, but American generals were at the start of a learning curve.

I'm a Brit, and my Grandfather fought at Loos, La Boiselle and onward from there, but of all the WW1 sites that I have visited; the trenches at Vimy are quite shocking in their very close proximity - 40 yds in places. I've stood under the trees on the downslope from the Memorial and asked myself over and over again " How on Earth did they do it?" Huge Respect to them all.