By Joe Corrigan
I noticed on a calendar that my sister created and gave to
her siblings for Christmas last year that April 9th was designated
“Vimy Ridge Day” in Canada. I’m not certain that is an official holiday but it very
well could be. As much as we celebrate the political birth of Canada every July
1st, a case could be made that, in its fiftieth year of existence,
the Battle of Vimy Ridge marked the true coming of age of our country on the
world stage.
When Great Britain declared war in August of 1914, Canada,
as a Dominion of the British Empire, was automatically involved. This was true whether
we wanted to join the fight or not, or whether we understood the reason for the
conflict or not. The truth is, most of English Canada was in favour of joining
the conflict. When Sir Sam Hughes called for 20,000 volunteers to form the
first elements of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1914 over 100,000
answered the call.
All through the conflict, Canadian troops made a good
account of themselves. From the initial gas attacks at Ypres in April 1915 to
the end of the “100 Days” in November of 1918, the Canadian Corps was a force
to be reckoned with on the Western Front. At the Battle of Kitchener’s Wood,
which took place at the end of April 1915, the Canadians became the first
colonial power to defeat a European power on European soil. This was an action
which French Marshall Foch later referred to as the greatest feat of arms of
the entire First World War.
As the Canadian Expeditionary force added divisions and
rose to Corps strength, Prime Minister Borden’s government insisted that they
fight as a unit and not be split up to support British army units. The Battle
of Vimy Ridge would be an opportunity for the four divisions of the Canadian Corps
to prove this to be a valid strategy. The Canadians were spared having to
participate in the first days of the ill-conceived Battle of the Somme. Their
counterparts from Newfoundland did not fare so well. When the battle commenced
on July 1st, 1916, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 800 strong, left
the trenches at Beaumont Hamel in full equipment and at a walking pace. An
unprecedented artillery barrage that preceded the assault had failed to do its
job of eliminating German opposition and the Newfoundlanders fell by the score
sustaining 90% casualties in about half an hour. The Canadian Corps moved into
the line in September and, although they did sustain casualties at the Battle
of the Somme, it was nothing like the Newfoundlanders.
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| 26th Battalion of the Second Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Lieutenant General Arthur Currie went to study the battles
of the Somme and Verdun in depth and came back with an understanding of what
hadn’t worked and what should be tried in the next assault. For the Canadian
Corps, that assault came at Vimy Ridge. The ridge was a dominant defensive
feature on the Western Front. Both the French and the British had tried to take
it only to be driven back with heavy losses. The Canadians were set to attack
on Easter Monday 1917. In preparation for the assault the Canadians used
scientific means to determine the location of the German artillery batteries
and targeted them in the initial barrage. The barrage itself was a “creeping
barrage” which rained down only yards in front of the advancing troops. In this
way, the Germans didn’t have time to get out of their dugouts and man their
machine guns as the Canadians were in their trenches before they could react.
Even the lead up to the attack was considered. The Canadians dug miles of
underground tunnels from the supply area to the front lines. In doing this it
prevented the Germans from disrupting the attack by bombarding our troops as
they were forming up. The tunnels still exist today at the Vimy memorial. You
can see the graffiti left on the walls by the soldiers as they waited their
turn to move into the line. For over three thousand it would be their last attack.
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| Naval gun firing over Vimy Ridge |
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| Smashing barbed wire with trench mortar shells |
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| Vimy tunnel |
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| Vimy Monument |
The attack was carried out by all four divisions with close
to 100,000 soldiers taking part. The bulk of the objectives were taken within
hours although some fighting continued for three more days. At the end of the first
day, many of the troops stood on top of the ridge looking out over the vast
Douai plain to the east, a region largely unaffected by the conflict until that
moment. Many believe this achievement, the major success of the larger Battle
of Arras, marked the coming of age of Canada. One soldier was quoted as saying
“We went up as Albertans and Nova Scotians … we came back as Canadians”. As an
example of what this achievement meant, the French government deeded part of
the battlefield to Canada as a permanent memorial to our nation’s contribution
to the allied victory. Walter Allward’s magnificent Vimy Ridge Memorial was
officially dedicated by King Edward VII (in what would have been one of his few
official functions as King) on July 26, 1936.
There are a great many recent television programs that have
covered the topic of the Canadian Corps in this engagement. The second
installment of the excellent documentary series “Far From Home” focuses solely
on the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Saturday, April 9th, 2016 marks the 99th anniversary of the battle (https://youtu.be/w2OslpiDVwI).
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| The Battle of Vimy Ridge painting by Richard Jack |
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| Ghosts of Vimy Ridge painting by Will Longstaff |
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| Hubert Michael Corrigan |
This article is dedicated to my uncle, Hubert Michael
Corrigan, who was born on April 9th, 1916, the year before the
battle of Vimy Ridge. Uncle Hu was born in Bellville, Ontario and moved with
his family to the homestead farm near Stockdale when he was very young. He
played hockey and baseball and worked at the nearby Bata Shoe Factory prior to
service in the Canadian Armed Forces in World War II. He served in the army
with the Royal Rifles of Canada at Quebec before his enlistment in the RCAF was
taken up in 1942. While training in Quebec he learned how to play golf, a
lifetime passion he was able to enjoy well into his eighties. He was trained as
radar operator at Clinton, Ontario and went overseas on the Queen Elizabeth
sailing out of New York City. While in Great Britain he served briefly with
Coastal Command’s squadron 119 (equipped with Sunderland Flying Boats) before
joining the Command’s #58 squadron where he spent most of his time servicing
the squadron’s Halifax bombers. He returned to Canada in 1946 and moved to
Detroit, Michigan in the early 1950’s. He introduced me and my twin brother to
Gordie Howe after a playoff game at the old Olympia Stadium during the 1963
Stanley Cup final against the Maple Leafs. He also gave us our first exposure
to Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers. Playing little league
baseball back home in Whitby, brother John and I wore our Tigers ball caps
while everyone else seemed to be New York Yankees fans. This Saturday would
have been his 100th birthday. He almost made it to his personal centennial
having passed away in 2011 during his 96th year.
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| Sunderland Flying Boat |
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| Halifax Bomber |
Joe Corrigan has been Museum Manager at Lang Pioneer Village since February of 2003. He has been a lifelong student of history. His specific areas of interest are Canadian and world political, military and sports history with a particular focus on biographical works. Joe has been interpreting Sir John A. Macdonald at the Museum's Historic Dominion Day event since 2007.
