After traveling around Normandy in search of the Plantagenets while also exploring WWII history in Arromanches, it was time for something new. The vicinity of Lille has a lot of WWI memorials and museums and we would start our day in Vimy, a Canadian memorial. Canada was really invested in WWI and with a population of eight million, almost eight percent would join the Expeditionary force. Of these 10% percent left their lives on the battlefields and around 30% were wounded. France and Belgium granted eight battles sites to Canada to commemorate its sacrifice, Vimy is one of those eight sites.
Canadian territory @Vimy
The memorial site of Vimy comprised a small museum, a couple of trenches, and a large memorial can be found. Here the Canadians troops, as part of the British force (Canada only got its flag in 1965), pushed through the German line on April 9th 1917. It was a concentrated effort of the British and the French together, especially after the costly battles at Verdun and the Somme. In the four days while the battle lasted, the Canadians did a fulminating job at great cost. Almost 3.600 men had been killed and around 7.000 wounded.
on Canadian soil @Vimy
For this heroism the French government later gave Canada 117 ha where the memorial now sits. Not only does it have a great visitors center with a small exhibition, it is stuffed by Canadian student volunteers on a four months rotation.
museum @Canadian National Vimy Memorial
One of the volunteers did a short tunnel tour with us and explained how the different tunnels (8m below) worked and where the no man’s land lay and where the Germans were.
the tunnel system and the craters @Vimy
She had a real knack for telling stories and did an excellent job of making history coming alive. Most of the craters you can see are not coming from air bombardment, but from trying to hit the enemy from underground.
craters and tunnels underneath @Vimy
Both sides tried to tunnel under the enemy and then blow up the adversary from underground.
tunnel system not for the faint of heart @Canadian National Vimy Memorial
The trenches looked way worse in 1917 but have been kept in place to show how far below the soldiers had to dig to stay safe. I guess the main problem must have been to keep dry feet.
trenches @Vimy
From the tunnels it is only a short drive to the memorial site itself. It was really impressive just from its sheer size.
Canadian National Vimy Memorial @France
The names of the fallen have been engraved in the monument and a wreath of poppies lay below. The use of poppies comes from a poem by the Canadian John McCrae, who wrote ‘In Flanders Fields‘ talking about the poppies growing on battlefields. Yours, Pollybert
commemoration of the fallen soldiers @Vimy
