Day 4 - 99 -- A century ago today

Mud that sucked at your feet with every step. Dead and dying all around you. Noise so loud you couldn't hear them -- or yourself -- scream. Forced further forward every three minutes.Snow and sleet stinging your face. Nightmare? No. This was only part of what greeted the men at Vimy Ridge when they went over the top at 5:30 AM on Easter Monday 1917. The craters from the artillery shells from the creeping barrage looked like a safe place to rest, but these places were a slow death by drowning in water and mud. The battle continued for four days, when finally the four divisions of Canadian troops took the hill. Of the roughly 100,000 troops that began the assault, 10,600 were injured or killed. The technology of the creeping barrage worked this time and the aerial battles included Billy Bishop and Baron von Richthofen. These two parts of the battle along with machine gun and rifle fire would have been deafening. My grandfather fought there and lived to come home. When I knew him, he slept late into the morning, which I thought odd when the rest of us were up and ready to roll. It wasn't until years later that I realized that he didn't sleep well at night. I imagine some of that was due to the First World War -- the war to end all wars.

Today Canada remembered the sacrifice of those soldiers. Vimy Ridge was ceded to Canada by France in perpetuity as an historic battleground park. A large monument was built and unveiled in 1936 and the refurbished site was rededicated in 2007. This monument was not to celebrate the victory of the battle. Instead, etched into stone are 11,285 names of Canadian missing and presumed dead -- all those troops with no permanent resting place. (Technically, 16 of those names have been buried and memorialized on a headstone since they were carved into the monument stone. Remains are found in farm fields, along with unexploded ordnance even now.) Not only is this area a memorial park, but it is the resting place of some of those men who were lost (quite literally) at Vimy.

Remembrance ceremonies came from a place of pride and gratitude with a fervent wish to not forget the sacrifices made in this battle. At the National War Memorial in Ottawa, an honour guard was present by the tomb of the Unknown throughout the night. This represented the long wait in the trenches and tunnels before the battle began. Earlier in the evening, people placed 3598 lit candles around the War memorial -- each light representing one of the dead or missing men from the 4 day battle at Vimy Ridge. Today, in France, thousands of people attended the events of the day. Music, dance, and readings from soldier journals brought to life by actors provided context and emotion. Paul Gross presented sections from the journals of Dr. John McRae, interspersed with the lines from In Flanders Fields. I found the description of death from mustard gas particularly difficult to hear -- necessary but difficult.

While I had hoped to be there today, travel plans just didn't come together well. This trip will occur in the near future. Next year is the centenary of the end of the Great War. Many songs came to mind today -- those from that era, those from the ceremonies today, and those written recently to commemorate World War I.  I settled on two songs from the latter grouping and one from the ceremonies. Each is hauntingly beautiful in its own way. N'oublions jamais. Enjoy!

Vimy Ridge -- Lizzy Hoyt



After the War -- Sarah Slean (written by Paul Gross & David Keeley for movie Passchendaele) 


Dante's Prayer -- Lorena McKennitt