I recently read Vimy by Pierre Berton (another unsung hero of Canada - it should be part of the school curriculum in Canada to read at least one of his books) and it was saddening, horrifying, patriotic, unbelievable and inspiring. I have to give a couple of quotes just to set the tone for this incredible battle:
To put this quote in context I will explain the preface - this is a quote from a soldier who visited the Vimy Ridge Memorial site in 1985, this soldier was in his 90’s and he was asked to describe life in the trenches - the mud, the lice and the filth of the rats - he said, “You had to be there. It’s not possible to describe it to somebody who wasn’t there”. I cannot even comprehend this environment. We are all complaining about social distancing and lack of toilet paper but we should acknowledge what real sacrifice is.
Pierre Berton tries to explain what trench life was like - “...dig in your backyard a ditch about eight feet deep, fill it during a rain storm with 2 feet of thick clay mud, and then crouch in it, day and night, for a week, living on tinned bully beef, a few slices of mouldy bread or hardtack, and plum jam. Yet even if you fill the ditch with live rats and infested it with so many lice that your shirt crawled, it would still be a pale counterfeit of the real thing. The ceaseless rumble of guns, the crack of bullets overhead, the crump of trench mortars, the stench of mangled bodies, and the command on certain nights to emerge from your filthy hole and crawl in terror across No Man’s Land - these cannot be simulated.” This was the unbelievable conditions these boys lived in if they were lucky enough to not be killed.
And these were boys. I’m not sure what you think of when you hear the word soldier. I think of order, training, confidence, wisdom, ability, mature, prepared, fit. Some of these boys were as young as 16 or 17. Some weighed less than 120 pounds. These boys were from families that pioneered Western Canada. They were used to back breaking work, sleeping outside and going without. They were strengthened by playing lacrosse and hockey. They could kill a deer with a rifle, eat cold meals and ride horses. They had tinkered with farm machinery and could quickly adapt to their surroundings. And over half of the Canadian troops were from west of Ontario, even though that was a very sparsely populated area in Canada in 1914.
Again a quote from Berton, “As David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, was to put in his memoirs “Whenever the Germans found the Canadian corps coming into line, they prepared for the worst.” The Canadian troops quickly were recognized by the Allies that, although we were a young nation, comprised of immigrants, we were more than able to step up and fight the Germans.
The Germans had taken the ridge in October 1914 and the Allies had been trying to recapture it ever since. The French fought for it for a year and lost over 150,000 men, then the British tried. There were several battles over the course of many months in 1915 and 1916 but the Germans kept control of the ridge. In early 1917 it was the Canadians turn.
Now there was incredible planning and the book details the act of warfare that I cannot even begin to understand but the Battle was eventually planned for April 9, 1917. It was Easter Monday at 5:30 am. It was snowing - blizzard like conditions. Can you imagine anything more Canadian? By April 12 the Canadians held the ridge. Now, obviously, the time in between the initial attack and eventually taking the ridge was absolute hell and cost Canada 3,600 soldiers and almost 7,000 wounded but when the dust settled a nation was born.
Canada captured the ridge with “blinding speed”. The Germans never regained the ridge and it was generally agreed that this was the turning point of the war.
The Americans (who, by the way, did not enter WW1 until April 1917) acknowledged our performance. The New York Tribune wrote, “every American will feel a thrill of admiration and a touch of honest envy at the achievement of the Canadian troops.... No praise of the Canadian achievement can be excessive Canada has sent across the sea an army greater than Napoleon ever commanded in the field”. And the New York Times wrote, “ In Canada‘s history, one of the great days, a day of glory to furnish inspiration for her sons for generations”. Impressive admiration from a country that currently struggles to acknowledge any country outside of its borders.
I am not doing this battle the justice it deserves but I really wanted to highlight how great Canada can be. How important it is to be unified. How proud we should be of the Canadians that fought (and fight) for our country. How petty and silly we can be - especially right now while we are fighting this pandemic. How we, as Canadians, should proudly and loudly defend and praise our nation.
How did Canada lose respect for the West? The west was praised for the hardships that the pioneer families suffered to settle the west, the building of a cross country railway, the hard work of all of the men and women to establish a life, an economy that would help support ALL of Canada. Western Canadians fought in both wars, these were farm boys that left the farm and the comforts of home to fight for freedom. My own grandfather fought in WW2 and I am sure suffered his own demons until his dying day.
I was trying not to get on my soap box for this blog and sincerely and honestly praise the soldiers and their families for the sacrifices they made and ensure them that it was not made in vain. We live our life because of their commitment and perseverance that theses people showed. I thank you. My family thanks you.
One more thing (this blog is like Lord of The Rings, it never ends!) I would like to tell Mike Meyers that he is wrong. We are not English. We are not American. We are Canadian. We are a great nation.
And damn it READ A PIERRE BERTON BOOK!! If not Vimy then Prisoners of the North, it is another great one.
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