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Remember those who fought: Three Canadian Battles

© David Newman

Its Remembrance Day on the eleventh and although I already wrote articles on war in Canada I will specifically write about important Canadian battles that have been recognised as truly a part of our history. Let us remember also Canadians who have died in the First and Second World War, the Korean War, the Gulf war or those who have died in peacekeeping missions. On the eleventh hour of the Eleventh Day of theEleventh Month, please remember to remember anyone who has lost their lives in the First World War or any war of this century.

The battles associated with the Canadians in both World Wars are Vimy Ridge, Dieppe and the Juno section of the D-Day operation.

Vimy Ridge (Apr 8 1917-Apr 12 1917) On April 8th 1917, the Canadian Corps attacked the post at Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge was one of the strongest German Defences and many previous attacks led by the Allies were unsuccessful. Four Divisions of the Canadian Corps made their way after much time in planing. The only thing that was secret to the forces was the day and time. Except for that they all knew what they were to do. The reproduced the whole area showing the German strong points and their trenches. On March 20th bombardments began. On April 2nd machine-gun fire was added to the bombardments. On April 9th, the Canadian Corps counted 170,000 men, 97,184 of them were Canadian and those who weren't were artillery, engineers or labour units (except for the British 5th Division who were infantry like the Canadians). The infantry then strated moving into no man's land without the letting the Germans know. At 5:30 am, the Canadians opened fire and advanced at a regular pace. After about a half-hour, the 1st Canadian Division had made it past German Trenches. The 2nd and 3rd Divisions didn't have much trouble either. The most loss was on the 4th Canadian Division when German posts that had been bombarded earlier had been repaired but the enemy was driven out latter. By 11 a.m. the 1st Division had reached its third objective and the 6th Canadian and 13th British Brigades passed the German Intermediate lines. More operations were done during the next few days and on 12 April 1917 Vimy was in the hands of the Canadians Corps. It is said that this battle is what gave Canada its first step to its own identity that of a nation, not of a British Colony.

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