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Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians
who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy
Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about
eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted
from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The
Memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. The
Memorial does more than mark the site of the engagement which Canadians were to remember
with more pride than any other operation of the First World War. It stands as a tribute to
all who served their country in battle in that four-year struggle, and particularly to
those who gave their lives. At the base of the Memorial, these words appear in French and
in English: TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR
SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA Inscribed on the
ramparts of the Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as
"missing, presumed dead" in France. The land for the battlefield park, 91.18
hectares in extent, was (as stated on a plaque at the entrance to the Memorial) "the
free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada". Eleven
thousand tonnes of concrete and masonry were required for the base of the Memorial: and
5,500 tonnes of "trau" stone were brought from Yugoslavia for the pylons and the
sculptured figures. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on
July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII. The park surrounding the
Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in
great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Around the Memorial, beyond the
grassy slopes of the approaches, are wooded parklands. Trenches and tunnels have been
restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced
the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made.
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