On 9 April 1917, a every major engage- cold, windwept Easter ment involving the Monday, the young Canadian Corps during Canadian Corps the Great War. captured Vimy Ridge Ridge was no exception. from the Germans. A Seventy-five years later, battle invariably alters we still remember and the lives of the pay tribute to those who combatants, and, were there. The follow- occasionally, it ing article has been transforms the face of an adapted from a manu- army. Victory can go script-in-progress beyond, touching the entitled "Hell Upon soul of an entire nation. Earth: A Personal Such was the case at Account of Prince Vimy. Edward Island Soldiers Prince Edward Island in the Great War, soldiers participated in 1914-1918."

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%i- rara^nl^MHl G)Ml Vimy

Vimy Ridge, itself, was unimpressive. to the south. Behind it sheltered an By J. Clinton Morrison From the valley of the River, it important part of German-occupied sprawled across the northern French . Realizing its significance, the The Ridge at Vimy landscape southeast for seven kilome- Germans had made it a key defensive tres past the towns of Vimy on one side zone, linking their new Hindenburg n October 1914, the first contingent and Neuville-St. Vaast on the other to the Line to major existing defence lines . of the Canadian Expeditionary Force valley of the Scarpe. Its highest point that extended from Hill 70 north to the disembarked in England. The same was less than 160 metres, and its great- Belgian seacoast. Its successful defence month, German forces wrested the crest est width only about two kilometres. was vital. of Vimy Ridge from the French. Because The strategic value of the ridge lay in The Allies had spent much of the they occurred in isolation, the two its tactical location. Dominating relatively events seemed unrelated, but time lower land, it commanded a view of Lens seized by Germany in the early fight- would tell a different story. to the north, Douai to the east, and ing on the Western Front. This was the essential first step in smashing through the German lines and out cf the brutal war cf attrition being fought in the trenches. The Vimy sector formed the joint between the British and French armies. Not only would the ridge's cap- ture give the British control over the entire front between Arras and Lens, but it would alsoprovide them with access to the rich Lens coal fields vital to the Ger- man war machine. Privately, the Allies knew that victory at Vimy would be cf inestimable psychological value. But by the end cf 1916, Vimy Ridge still lay in German hands, despite bloody attacks by both French and Britishf orces. The French attempt alone had cost over 130,000 casualties. Some Allied com- manders believed the Ridge was impreg- nable. Now its capture became the in- tended preliminary for a major British offensivein the Arras sector. The assign- ment was given to the newly formed Canadian Corps. The Canadian Corps comprised four field divisions commanded by a British officer, General Sir Julien Byng. Formed in 1916, it had proven itself during the terrible bloodbath known as the Battle cf the Somme. Byng had known since No- vember that the Canadians would be asked to take Vimy Ridge, but it was January before he knew they must do it alone.* It would be the first time that all four divisions cf the Canadian Corps at- tacked an enemy positionsimultaneously. On top cf the ridge waited three Ba- varian and Prussian divisions of Group Vimy, many cf them battle-hardened veterans of the Russian Front, the Somme, and Verdun.Their commander, General Karl Von Fasbender, had also been at the Somme, where he received the highest German award for bravery. Confident that the Canadians would not achieve any substantial gains during the early days cf the attack, the German High Command stationed its five coun- terattack divisions several kilometres t - the east cf the ridge.

Countdown campaign was to be the assault on Vimy TOP: The 2nd Canadian Siege Battery By spring, the impending Ridge. Only the exact timetable and provided counterbattery fire during the was no longer a secret. Both sides also details cf the attack remained unknown. battle from the ruined village of Carency. knew that the major offensive of the Each army was confident its forces would Vimy Ridge looms in the background. triumph. The meticulous planning for the Ca- BOTTOM:Membersofthe2nd Canadian ^Eventually, one British brigade, the 13th, would nadian attack broke with British prac- Siege Battery position their artillery piece be attached to the Canadian Corps for the assault. tice by involving all ranks down to the at Lieven, near Vimy. The photograph level cf corporal. This allowed troops to was likely taken after the battle. see themselves as more than pawns in a reinforcements. But there were Island- geants came along their respective sec- gigantic chess game. Success depended ers serving in many other Canadian units, tions and spoke words of encourage- on finding out as much as possible about such as the 26th (New Brunswick) Bat- mentto the men waitingin the darkness. the enemy's strategy and the strength talion and the Princess Patricia's Cana- The encouragement was accompanied behind the German front line defences. dian Light Infantry (PPCLI). by a rum ration judiciously administered To get that knowledge, the Canadians As darkness settled over the battered so as not to diminish fighting effective- employed the deadly tactics of the trench landscape, the Allied bombardment ness. MacKay remembered it well: 'We raid. Between 22 March and 5 April, the slackened and 40,000 Canadians began had about an hour wait before zero hour. Corps suffered over 1,600 casualties, silently to move up to the forward jump- Andthen,nextthing,therewasalittletot primarily as a result of these raids. ing-off points. The night began clear, of rum, the old SRD; it was supposed to On 20 March, an Allied bombardment with an almost-fullmoon, butbefore dawn be Special Demerara Rum, but they had commenced along the Vimy sector east the sky darkened. As zero hour ap- it nicknamed 'Soldiers' Rum Diluted.' cf the Arras-Souchez Road. To conceal proached, the temperature plunged, and Well, we had a tot cf that. It probably give the magnitude cf the artillery buildup a combination of snow and sleet swept in us a little bit of heat." Battalion cooks (the concentration of guns was twice as from the northwest — straight into the were also busy, and each soldier was heavy as at the Somme), half cf the batter- faces of the German defenders. Sloshing given a hot meal in the pre-dawn dark- ies remained out cf action intentionally about in knee-deep mud, the waiting ness. The heat was welcome, for there until 2 April, when all available artillery Canadians were wet and cold, but the were several highland battalions, like joined in the barrage. The German de- storm masked their preparations. the 25th, whose "ladies from hell" were fenders would later refer to the intense Brad MacKay cf Coleman was with in kilted battle dress. bombardment as "the week cf suffering." the 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles) As daybreak neared, thousands of On Easter Sunday evening, 8 April, all that Easter Monday morning. He and restless troops stirred uneasily up and four divisions cf the Canadian Corps his comrades were weighed down with down the line. An anonymous Island prepared to move into their final attack Mills bombs, bandoliers cf ammunition, soldier of the 25th Battalion, 1st Cana- positions. They would advance simulta- rifles, rations, sandbags, waterproof dian Division, captured the mood of the neously on a seven- kilometre front along sheets, entrenching tools, canteens, expectant army in a letter home: a line that extended from the northwest, flares, smoke helmets and gas masks — beyond Givenchy Wood, to the south- all in addition to their winter clothing Atlastthe first streaksof'dawn appear east, beyond Wood. Only one and heavy greatcoats. By the time they in the east and we know that within a few specifically "Island" unit, the 2nd Cana- reached the jump-off point, they were minutes the guns which have been silent dian Siege Battery, was present at Vimy; exhausted from lugging more than 20 for a couple of hours, will break out with the Island's only infantry battalion, the kg each cf equipment through the mud. acrashwhichwillmakeThor,thethunder 105th, had already been broken up for Throughout the night, company ser- god, blush with envy. The silence is un- canny, and every- one's nerves are strainedto breaking point. Will the Cana- dians take Vimy Ridge and hold it? Of course they will. There is not the shadow of a doubt. Everybody is confi- dent. We look at our watchesandgivethe order to get ready. Despite the per- vasive confidence, many soldiers grap- pled with the uncer- tainties that lay ahead. Thoughts cf their own mortality overshadowed all else. James McBride of Scotchfort was serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light In- fantry. After the bat- tle, he described the Vimy Ridge. feeling in his regi- ment i n the final min- utes before jump-off: Many strange thoughts come into a man's mind. The next few hours might be his last in this world and he thinks of Home and the ones he loves. It is an awful feeling. We did not know how hard the fight was going to be and you would ask yourself the question, has our artillery done its work, hasitsmashed his wire, has it broken his trenches, has it destroyed his machine gun em- placements, has it broken down his strong points, has it broken the sbirit of the men? "The taking ofVimy Ridge. "A n official war photo shows forward trenches a t Vimy. The flat, tortured landscape Meanwhile, Ben suggests the importance of high ground. Conrad cf Sturgeon, a signaller with the 2nd Canadian Siege seat: "With one mighty crash our artillery the northwest, the 3rd and 4th Divisions Battery, got an early introduction to the opens up. You cannot hear aword spoken. had less distance to traverse. Their final slaughter that was soon to follow. A vet- Our artillery is playing on his front line objective was the Red Line. Every sol- eran cf the Somme, where he won the aboutfiftyyards away. It will remain there dier knew how long to pause at an objec- Military Medal for bravery, Conrad had for some minutes all according to a tive before moving on or when to dig in laid down his signalequipmentand struck prearranged plan." For three minutes, and let the second wave pass over. In up a conversation with a young Vancou- shellsraineddown on the Germanforward reality, the battle was to be four separate ver infantryman. Their friendship was line, obliterating enemy telecommunica- engagements waged simultaneously. forged quickly amid the sporadic Ger- tions, observation points, ammunition At zero hour the six assault battalions man shelling that broke the silence over dumps, and batteries. The opening of the lstDivision,commanded by Maj.- the Canadian lines. The memory would bombardment was immediately followed Gen. Arthur W. Currie, were in position stay with him for the rest cf his life: by a "creeping barrage," that advanced at the extreme right of the Canadian an 100 yards every three minutes, keeping I bent down to pick up the telephone d Corps. Facing them were three German defence lines, located on the westward jUSt then thjrp was rim prnlo^ion just ahead of the attacking infantry. overhead an^^erewasas's'suc^m^e The Vimy battle plan was simple in slopes of the ridge. The Third Line lay to trench beside me. And I was going to design. Its complexity lay in the need for the east of the crest, overlooking the say 'My goodness, that was close1/ And exact timing and accurate artillery fire. plain below. The Germans' first line of tturmd around t0 chap he Each of the Canadian Corps' four divi- defence consisted of three parallel when this was sagging down in the trench. There sions was responsible for capturing a trenches, bristling with guns and wire. These must be taken first. was nothing left but his lower jaw! His section of the ridge. Individually, they s e Following closely behind the protec- whole head had been carried off. would secure their P ciuc objectives — designated by the colours black, red, tive curtain of fire laid down by their It was one minute to zero hour. blue, and brown — in a multi-stage as- artillery, the 7th Battalion (British Co- sault. The Brown Line represented the lumbia) swiftly advanced with the 2nd crest of the ridge, and was the final ob- Brigade through the mud and shell cra- Over the Top jective for the 1st and 2nd Divisions. ters. Charlie Hamm of Bunbury de- Because the escarpment veered toward scribed his excitement when the Battal- Promptly at 5:30 a.m., like a monstrous ion reached its first objective, known as thunderclap, the zero-hour bombard- the Black Line, in only 45 minutes. 'You M *There had been no massive artillery bombardment ment commenced. Some 980 guns and preceding the assault in the hope that it would should have seen our artillery fire the mortars fired in unison. James McBride deceive the enemy as to the exact moment of attack. day we went over," he wrote his mother of the Princess Patricias had a front-row on 21 April. "Fritz's front line was just like a wall of flame. And Fll bet they did Harnrn's bravado was undiminished.Two ers was on the BlackLine.Nowit was the not enjoy it. Going over was like taking days after the attack, still flushed with turn of the support battalions to join the candy from a kid. It was so easy." victory, he wrote home, 'We are having fight. The 25th Battalion's objective, the Hamm and the other soldiers of the a great time, the best I have had since I Red Line, coincided with the German 7th Battalionfound that theintense bom- struck the country. . . . We are rather Turko Graben trench system halfway up bardment had destroyed all opposition lucky . . . as we are in a deep German the ridge. along the enemy's first line of defence. dugout with a nice fire and if the electric In describing the advance up the slope, The survivingGermans, sheltering deep bulb was not broken we could have elec- the anonymous Islander in the Battalion in their dugouts, quickly surrendered. tric light. Fritz certainly had things fixed painted a stirring picture for the Island After waiting 30 minutes to consolidate up fine." Farmer: A t last hell breaks loose and the good old [25]th Nova Scotians with their comrades from all over Canada on eitherjlank, leap over the parapet with a yell. Two of our pipers have volunteered to play the battalion over and with their pipes shrieking "Bonnie Dundee"and ribbonsjlyingin the breeze they strut over the shell swept ground and again the boys cheer and yell. Now some of Canada's best are starting to fall and everybody sees red and nothing can stop us now. Following the two pipers (who both were awarded the Military Medal), the 25th passed over the captured German first defensive line, stopping briefly at Zwischen Stellung — the Black Line — to re-form, then proceeded on schedule. The Red Line lay another 750 metres away, across the Lens-Arras Road. The Island soldier continues his heroic nar- rative: To many observers, the Great War meant the destruction of Western civilization. The ruined church atAblaine-St. Nazaire, nearSouchez, about3/4ofa mile from the northern At lastwe near our objective and the end ofVimy Ridge. hand to hand fighting gets more severe for the Hun does not want to lose his coveted Vimy Ridge. Machine guns their position, the 7th plodded on through Enemy artillery continued to harass spurt outsudden death but our bombers smoke and driving snow (the wind hav- the occupying troops. The day after rush out and silence them, while the ing changed direction), collecting more Hamm wrote home, the 7th Battalion rifle grenades deal with those further in prisoners as they advanced. As the at- was severely battered in an effort to de- the rear. tackers approached their second and stroy some captured guns. Hamm was final objective, the Red Line (coinciding wounded in the head, and invalidedback After advancing almost two kilome- here with the German Zwischen Stellung to England. tres from the original assembly trench, Line), enemy resistance stiffened. The the 25th Battalion finally reached its ob- Canadians met heavy sniper and ma- jective. Less than two and a half hours chine-gun fire beyond the Arras-Lens "Nothing Can Stop Us" had elapsed since zero hour. In seizing Road, and grenades and bayonets were the Turko Graben Line, they had cap- needed to dislodge the Germans from Maj.-Gen. Henry E. Burstall's 2nd tured two 77mrn guns, eight machine their positions. By 7:15 a.m., the 2nd Division advanced along a 1,500-metre guns, six trench mortars, and (assisted Brigade had seized the second German front in the right centre of the Corps' by the 22nd Battalion), almost 400 pris- line of defences and were digging in. advance. Troops of the 4th and 5th oners. The Battalion had suffered 253 Leap-frogging over it, the 1st Brigade Brigade were the first to go over the top. casualties, including its commanding of- took over the assault, reaching the the The 24th Battalion (VictoriaRifles) from ficer and three other officers. Despite its Blue Line (Chain Trench) by 11:45 a.m. Montreal and the 26th Battalion (New heavy casualties, the 25th held its posi- By 1:30 p.m., the 1st Division's final ob- Brunswick) led the forward wave cf the tion as other attack units moved forward. jective, the Brown Line (Farbus Wood, 5th Brigade's attack. The 25th Battalion By dusk, the 2nd Division was on the on Vimy's crest) had fallen. (Nova Scotia Rifles) and the 22nd Brown Line, capturing Bois de la Ville The men of the 2nd Brigade remained Battalion (the "Van Doos") were held in and Goulot Wood on the outskirts of behind in the captured German posi- reserve for the second stage of the Farbus on the eastern slope of the ridge. tions. The day's fighting had cost the 7th assault. The 3rd Division, commanded by Battalion 364 casualties, but Charlie In 45 minutes, the first wave of attack- Maj.-Gen. Louis Lipsett, began thebattle positioned in the left centre of the Cana- came under heavy fire from concealed had not followed the standard trench dian front. On its left wing was the 7th enemy machine gunners, who still occu- rotation procedure cf allowing entire Brigade, with four battalions: the Prin- pied Hill 145 in the 4th Division's sector battalions to be taken out of the line for cess Patricias (PPCLI), the Royal Cana- to their immediate left. Nevertheless, rest and training. Instead, platoons or dian Regiment (RCK), the 42nd Battal- two hours into the attack, the Princess companies were withdrawn piecemealin ion ("The Black Watch"), and, in re- Patricias had captured their objective, order to keep the battalionscontinuously serve, the 49th (Edmonton) Battalion. the Red Line, at Bois de la Folie. The in the line to monitor enemy movements. In the early hours of the morning, the PPCLI had suffered only 50 casualties in As a result, the battalions never got a PPCLI had sent out advance parties to the assault, but until late the next day, chance to train for the assault as a team. cut the wire in front of their own lines in they would be strafed with sniper, ma- The 11th Brigade also asked that a preparation for the jump-off. When zero chine gun, and artillery fire from con- German trench just beyond the Cana- hour came, the regiment spearheaded cealed bunkers on the east slope of Hill dian lines be spared the preliminary bom- the assault, attacking Ecole Commune 145. By the time they were relieved, the bardment, arguing that the trench's de- in front of La Folie Wood on the crest of casualty total had reached 222 men. struction would only obstruct the attack. the ridge. Led by their pipers, the PPCLI Only the 4th Division failed to take its Smothered by the infantry's rapid ad- reached the first German line within objective on 9 April. Positioned on the vance, the intact trench would provide minutes to find the bombardment had extreme left of the Corps line, its leading cover from enemy gunners on the slopes done its terrible work. There were dead brigades must cross Zouave Valley of the ridge. It was a disastrous miscalcu- and wounded everywhere. Many Ger- (known to the Canadians as "Death Val- lation. To make matters worse, the Ger- mans had fled, leaving their rifles be- ley") in its advance toward Givenchy-en- man defences were stronger than ex- hind. But the attack schedule was cru- Gohelle. Two fortified German positions, pected — indeed, they were the strong- cial, and the PPCLI pressed on behind "the Pimple" to the north and Hill 145 to est on the whole ridge — and the artil- the protection of the creeping barrage. James McBride described the PPCLFs advance in a letter to his father. Like the anonymous correspondent of the 25th, he chooses the immediacy of the present tense: The enemy has taken to the open, his trenches are only a death trap. The rifle and machinegunfireis terrible and the ground is strewn with the enemy dead. The wounded are asking for help but we cannot stay. I look away on the right, what a sight, the bursting of shells, the enemy's S.O.S. calls, calling for his artillery, calling for reinforcements. What a sight: men shout and try to make themselves heard above the din but it is impossible.. . . Like the other Canadian troops, the PPCLI were putting into practice tactical lessonslearned on the killing grounds of the Somme. Instead of advancing in a line, they attacked in platoon or com- pany strength. Individual units pinned down pockets of enemy resistance while others rushed forward and overcame the obstacle. McBride continues: "Perhaps some mother is waiting for him to come home." A dead German machine gunner. Thisglass lantern image was part of a slide show depicting the war history of the We are temporarily held up by a 2nd Canadian Siege Battery, recruited on Prince Edward Island. machine gun, or a party of the enemy more brave than the rest. An officer waves his revolver, points in the the south, dominated the valley. To cross lery bombardment failed to silence them. direction of the enemy, he starts to run. it, they must be silenced. Hill 145, being At zero hour, the 11th Brigade ad- He is followed by his platoon or by the the summit, had to be taken before the vanced into a hail of fire in front of Hill whole company. In a few minutes we Pimple could be assaulted and the ridge 145, and could not reach its objective, pass over the obstruction, the garrison secured. the Red Line, on schedule. Dick Doiron is dead or dying all brave men but they The 4th Division was the weakest in of Duvar Road had joined up for the pay, could not stand the mad rush of men the Corps. Battered during the spring enlisting in the 87th Battalion in Mon- flushed with victory. trench raids, it had been brought up to treal in 1915. He earned his $ 1.10 per day strength with green replacements. Com- at Hill 145. His battalion was virtually As the regiment pushed forward, it pounding the problem, the 11th Brigade decimated in the first few minutes cf its assault on the German strong point. To for Vimy Ridge. There were probably As the Canadians struggled uphill the left, the 12th Brigade was hindered about 65 Island casualties in the fighting through the smoke and noise, German by the swampiest terrain on the entire at Vimy.* One of the luckiest was Neil snipers and machine gunners picked battlefield. Despite being caught in an McDougall of Grand River. "The wound away at them mercilessly. No one, not enemy crossfire between Hill 145 and I got will not hurt me in future life in the even the walking wounded, had been the Pimple, the Brigade was able to least," he reassured his step-mother: spared. Shielded by their red crosses, achieve most of its objectives on the stretcher-bearers and ambulance driv- Black Line. I know over home when they hear of ers were protected from German bullets, a fellow being wounded they think he is but not from the deadly shrapnel. Fortui- After a hard fight, the 11th Brigade's done, but it is not so with me. In fact, I 85th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highland- tously, they were aided by the soft ter- feel nearly as good now as I ever have rain, especially on the extreme left cf the ers) took the crest of Hill 145 late on the felt. However, it very nearly cost my life. 9th. The following day, two reserve bat- Corps' attack, where the force of explod- It was a machine gun bullet that got ing shells was frequently smothered by talions of the 10th Brigade secured the me. It went in on my left side and came Red Line and Bois de la Folie beyond, the mud. Alyre Arsenaultcf Egmont Bay, out on my right. If it had been one half a mounted driver with the 8th Field Am- effectively silencing the enemy fire from inch around towards my back it would Hill 145. On 12 April, the 10th Brigade's bulance, worked 48 hours non-stopatthe have killed me instantly, for it would height of the battle, sorting through the three Prairiebattalionscaptured the Pim- have pierced my heart. It was high ple. The German defenders fell back to bodies strewn along the slope, leaving enough, but not deep enough so you will the dead and loading the wounded to be new lines on the Douai Plain, east cf the understand, mother, I had a narrow ridge. In the following week, the Cana- taken to waiting motor ambulances fur- escape. The most peculiar fact of all is ther back. Burial parties followed and dian Corps consolidated its gains. It had that the bullet that went through me advanced almost five kilometres, taking interred the dead where they lay, often came out in my right breast pocket and dozens of them in a single grave. more than 4,000 German prisoners and stuck in a book which I had in my over 150 artillery pieces. The victory was pocket. It also broke a piece of [sic] my German casualties were substantially complete. fountain pen. greater than those suffered by the Cana- dians. At the height cf the battle, the Other Islanders were less fortunate on. "Poor Hector [McMurray] was \^\\e^ The Cost of Victory *This number was obtained by establishing aratio April 9th about a half hour after the battle between totalnational and provincialcasualtiesfor It had been a costly triumph. The entire started," Dick Rogerson of Canoe Cove the war and national casualty statistics at Vimy. It campaign resulted in 20,000 Canadian wrote his sister, Katherine. "I seen him is difficult to be accurate. casualties, half cf them during the battle lying in a shell hole dead."

34 Canadiansshowed little mercy, and many would remain in cf the defenders were slaughtered indis- Allied hands for the criminately. Enemy troopers hiding un- duration cf the war. scathed in deep dugouts after the open- Though its capture ingbombardmentwere unceremoniously would not b e decisive dispatched with Mills bombs and explo- in determining the sives as the Canadianspassed overhead. future course cf the As the Canadian advance quickened, conflict, it would so many prisoners were taken that there remain symbolic of was no one to guard them and they were Canada's coming of sent back to the rear alone. According t o age on the battlefield. James McBride, it did not matter: "Pris- Victory infused the oners are passing back, their hands high Canadian soldiers above their heads, they need no guard, with a sense cf pride they are only to [sic] glad togetout of it." and confidence. But any sign cf hostility from the prison- Fired in the kiln of ers was taken as an excuse to kill them. Vimy, the Canadian The killing had its own momentum. Corps emerged hard Still grieving at his friend Hector's death, and defiant. Gradual- Dick Rogerson was brutally matter- ly, the Canadians of-fact: gained a reputation as the premier as- Ihavegot my share ofgermans. Igot sault troops in the fourteen to my credit in about two Allied forces. In the hours some I shot with my rifle, more I costly fighting to drove the bayonit in to [sic] and two I come — Hill 70, Killed with a milles bomb. . . . Once I Lens, Passchen- Killed myfirstgerman with my bayonit daele, the Last One my blood was riled everygermanlcould Hundred Days — not reach with my bayonit I shot Ithink they would march to no more ofmurderingthem than lusted victory. [sicJ to think of shooting rabbits and you know how little that was. At home, a politi- cally and culturally Shortly afterwards, Rogerson was killed divided country, in action. In December 1917, the Canadians raised this battered woodenstrugglin g to find Ned Morrison of Bideford, who was cross at Vimy Ridge. The inscription reads: "In proud memorycommoncauseina of n with the 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal the soliders of the First Canadian Division who fell in the uncommon war, re- Regiment) at Vimy, turned to verse to investment, assault, and defence of the Vimy Ridge. March 4th,joice d together. In describe hisfeelings. His poem "Trench April 9th, July 29th A.D. 191% This mark is set by their the years that fol- Life" contains undertones cf vengeance, comrades in arms. Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Christmas 1917." lowed, many observ- so characteristic cf manv Vimv veterans. er s would claim that Not a coward man was there I can only remember killing four Canada was born, not in the British Par- As on the ground the wounded lay; and I only stuck the bayonet in one of liament fifty years before, but on the And to the front line we got at last them. Perhaps some mother is waiting ramparts cf Vimy Ridge. The Islanders who fought there on a cold spring morn- And believe me old Fritz didn 't last. for him to come home but Ihad to do it as it was my duty and he would have ing in 1917 would carry the pride cf that Not only had Morrison lost comrades done it to me if I had given him the victory with them. during the assault on the ridge, his 17- chance. It was really a hand to hand year-old brother Harry had been killed fight and they stood their ground for a with the Regiment in March during the short time then they turned and ran Sources preliminary skirmishing. Morrison and our rifle fire mowed them down would lose his own life on 2 September like grain. The Island material used here comes 1918, two months before the Armistice. mostly from personal interviews with Edward Burgoyne was wounded in Vimy veterans and letters home, saved the leg that Easter Monday. "I suppose in private collections or published in you will wonder if I have killed a Ger- Consequences Island newspapers. Besides accounts cf man, "he wrote his parents back home in the battle, the major secondary sources Granville: The Battle of Vimy Ridge was an included official histories cf individual unqualified military success. It had been units and cf the Canadian Expeditionary A Under guard, German prisoners serving the first substantial Imperial victory in Force, ift as stretcher bearers are overtaken by a two and a half years cf fighting. Indeed, railroad truck loaded with wounded in it was to be the only real success during this official warphotograph taken a t Vimy. the whole Arras offensive. The ridge