Vimy Ridge Essay

When war is pictured the words bloodshed, violence, and struggle are a few of the most common words to come to mind, but what about unity? The many battlefields of World War I were, without a doubt, places of mass destruction, but the experiences also created deeply rooted bonds and perhaps even friendships. The battle of Vimy Ridge could be considered one of the most noteworthy battles fought by Canadians because it's results spurred on a flood of new found respect from countries in the western alliance and for the first time during the war, Canada felt united as a nation. Canadian troops were triumphant where far more powerful nations had failed so the key question is, why were the Canadians successful at Vimy? How did an almost insignificant

country hiding in the shadow of Great Britain manage to go against all odds and overthrow the Germans? Finding an explanation for such an incredible feat would require the examination of two books (Vimy Ridge 1917: Byng's Canadians Triumph at Arras1 and Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment2 ), a scholarly internet article ("From the bridge to the ridge: Lethbridge volunteers and the Battle for Vimy Ridge."3), an academic journal (The Use and Abuse of Battle: Vimy Ridge and the Great War over the History of the First World War4), and a primary document (29th Infantry Battalion Advancing over "No Man's Land" through the German Barbed Wire and Heavy Fire during the Battle of Vimy Ridge5).

After having looked at these sources, it is evident that the Canadians were successful at the battle of Vimy Ridge because of the quality of their planning, the effective use of counter battery fire before the assault, and the creeping barrage during the

battle.
Most success stories begin with a strong foundation and the battle of Vimy Ridge was
no exception. The importance of planning was portrayed in the quote, “While the 2nd Canadian division's performance at Vimy was not flawless, the inevitable mistakes were minimized due to an unprecedented degree by weeks of meticulous preparation and training.”6 This quote shows that meticulous preparation was a huge factor in the success of the Canadians at Vimy and being attentive to detail allowed the Canadian forces to be prepared in almost any situation that could have possibly occurred. Another important factor incorporated into planning was practise: “Scale models were constructed of the various objectives and the troops were put through exhaustive practice sessions on these models until every square inch of the ridge was committed to memory."7 This excerpt expresses the significance of the contribution that practise gave to winning the battle because as the saying goes, "Practise makes perfect". The Canadian troops at Vimy proved the saying to be true because practising the assault helped them to work in synchronization and helped them learn to work as a team striving for an ultimate goal rather than as individuals. The engineers built replica German pillboxes so that the soldiers would be able to practise the assault many times. The commanders also ensured that every single soldier knew their objectives and were each given their own map so that they knew what to do in the event that their commander was killed. Finally, the commanders sent people to gather intelligence from the Germans and as a result, were able to develop an accurate picture of the German regiment's status. Every detail helped the division become one step closer to winning the battle because they were prepared for anything.
Before the battle even began the Canadians were hard at work in wearing down the German defences to reduce casualties through a method called counter battery fire. Counter
battery fire is the use of artillery targeted towards enemy artillery, barbed wire, fighting
positions, and re-supply/repair parties.

Armies back then used flash spotting, sound ranging with triangulation, hot air balloons, planes, and gunners who understood the science behind direction finding to located targets. Hayes, Iarocci, and Bechthold convey the effectiveness of counter battery fire in the following quote, “Several weeks of pre-battle fire annihilated the enemy defences, cleared barbed wire, and forced defenders to their protective dugouts.”8 Destroying the barbed wire and enemy defences allowed the Canadian troops to reach the ridge faster with less casualties and a decent number of men compared to the previous attempts by France and the United States of America. The course of the counter battery fire was a twenty-day bombardment with variations in duration and intensity which gave the Canadians an element of surprise when they attacked because the Germans had learned to expect an infantry attack soon after artillery attacks. “Artillery units,...pummelled the German lines with a thundering barrage of more than 800,000 shells."9 The blitz destroyed eighty-three percent of German artillery and barbed wire rendering them helpless against the upcoming attack. As a result, destroying the barbed wire and enemy weaponry allowed the Canadians to take over the

ridge.
The final contributing factor to the success of the Canadians at the battle of Vimy Ridge was a tactic called the creeping/rolling barrage. The significance of the creeping barrage is shown in the following quote: “Without the protection of the barrage, the attack on Vimy would have been little more than a frontal assault against the massed guns of entrenched enemy positions.”10 This quote conveys the importance of the creeping barrage because if the barrage was not present, there would have been a greater number of casualties
and deaths. During the attack, artillery was ordered to begin bombing one hundred yards ahead of their trenches while the infantrymen advanced one hundred yards every three minutes, behind the cloud of dust which was created from the impact. “If all went according to plan, the barrage would keep German forces in their dugouts until the Canadians were on top of them.”11 Since the barrage created a large cloud of dust the Germans couldn't see and consequently couldn’t locate targets. Even if the Germans managed to make out any figures through the dust and dirt they would have been unable to emerge from their dugouts because the artillery was still aimed at them. In addition, most of the German artillery and defences were damaged from counter battery fire as mentioned in the previous paragraph. The creeping barrage kept the number of fatalities low which proved to be an advantage because more soldiers were able to make it to the opposing trench and overthrow the Germans.
Overall the Canadians were successful at Vimy because they used the rolling barrage, effectively coordinated artillery and infantry, and the commanders contributed a great deal of time and effort to perfect the plan. Although the Canadians were successful in taking over Vimy Ridge it came with a cost. Around 3,600 soldiers lost their lives at Vimy while 6,400 sustained injuries.