Vimy

[hnachaj]

I just got back from a month in Europe. I was shooting the European FITASC Sporting Championship near Amiens. While there, I visted the Vimy battlefield, the WW 1 museum at the Peronne Chateau and the tunnels in Albert.

The monument is mighty impressive. It has recently been completly rebuilt and restored.

Here is a view from the Canadian trenches:

Here are the Canadian trenches:

Here is a crater that is located just inside the German lines. It was a tunnel filled with explosives.

Here is part of the Canadian tunnels:

The Candian #2 cemetary:

Here is an interesting 10 shot Mauser at the Mueum in the Chateau de Peronne:

Here are a few more pictures from within the Museum:

Here are a few pictures of some of the displays in the tunnels of the town of Albert:

While driving back to Amiens, I stumbled on one of the French cemetaries:

 

[Nabs]

Very nice pictures, thank you for posting. I have yet to visit Vimy Ridge but I plan on doing so very soon. Did you happen to drive across the sheep that the ground keepers use to keep the grass low ?

 

[Rickyy101]

Thank you for these photos! They truly are beautiful and moving.

 

[hnachaj]

Yes, there are sheep everywhere mowing the grass. There are tons of unexploded munitions and mines still under the grass. Most of the battlefied is closed off to people and only open to the sheep!

Regards,
Henry

 

[Beaner1976]

Excellent, thankyou!

 

[tjsudbury]

Every Canadian should visit this site, at least once in their lives. The sacrifices that these men gave for their country must not be forgotten. To put things in perpective, for every single day of the first World War, thats about 1560 days, give or take a few, 40 canadian soldiers lost their lives. And thats from a population that was about one quarter of our present population. Like loseing 160 a day now. I wonder what that coward Jack Layton would say to that.

 

[tonyg]

On my life list to do.

The French cemetery is a reminder that the French were indeed in the fight and is in poignant contrast to the jokes we make about them. (mea culpa)

 

[frzburn]

Thanks for the pictures. Vimy really is a great battle honor.

However, when I hear that name the first thing that comes to mind is the reservist camp on BFC Valcartier, not good memories...

 

[hnachaj]

More of the poor Cadets blow away by a supposed dewat grenade! They no longer teach any explosive classes to the cadets. I learned a lot about explosives when I was in the Cadets and then the reserves. The best thing I learned was: More is better! The second best thing that I learned: Everything is always to be handled as being HOT!

Henry

 

[shortyirish12]

I just returned from the 65th anniversary of D-Day celebrations back in June. It was truly the highlight of my life. I also visitted Vimy and many other battlefield from both wars. You can't honestly put it in to words how truly amazing and insane the wars were. You have to see it for yourself to get the full effect. I will be going back thats for sure

 

[tjsudbury]

While driving back to Amiens, I stumbled on one of the French cemetaries:

I have a photo of this same cemetary taken from about 50 feet away from the spot this one was taken, it shows a bit more of the Comonwealth cemetary on the right that is just visible in this pic. I walked through this one and noted that many of the French dead in this cemetary were killed during the first month of the war. As another poster has said, we often make fun of the French army dropping their guns and running, the fact is, they fought like demons, at least in the first war. Over 1.4 million French soldiers died in WW1.

 

[PerversPépère]

What is also stunning is the relative small territory over which these battles were fought (Argonne, Chemin-des-Dames, Verdun, Courcelette, etc) and the sheer numbers of people sent there; with the constant shelling from each sides, it must have looked like a meat grinder.
In Flanders,10 000 dead the first attack on Paaschendaele and more the following day... and nobody said anything... they just kept on sending troops with the same tactics.
O tempora, O mores...
PP.

 

[NAA]

I just returned from the 65th anniversary of D-Day celebrations back in June. It was truly the highlight of my life. I also visitted Vimy and many other battlefield from both wars. You can't honestly put it in to words how truly amazing and insane the wars were. You have to see it for yourself to get the full effect. I will be going back thats for sure

+1

I was on a WWI/WWII battlefield tour earlier this year, too.... UK, Holland, Belguim & France...... May 21-June 12.

The highlight was being at Juno for the 65th celebrations on June 6th 2009 [we stayed the last 7 nights in Normandy at a chateau in Ste Marie du Mont where the 101st AB jumped in on June 6th].

We were also at Vimy around the end of May. Absolutely spectacular.

I'm still sorting out the 2,600 pics I took.

NAA.

 

[TheIndifferent1]

Great pictures Yours turned out much better than mine.

I went for a 1 week trip with 30 RMC cadets last year. I'm planning on going back on my own for a 2 week trip next year. 1 week is just not long enough, you end up rushing from place to place.

 

[Gibbs505]

Great pics, very humbling

 

[ebruder]

Every Canadian should visit this site, at least once in their lives. The sacrifices that these men gave for their country must not be forgotten.

I agree...

I visited Vimy on my LTA in 1998... it was awe inspiring... every Canadian must go there...

I was very impressed with the condition of the cemetery... grass freshly cut... hedges trimmed... flowers pruned... flag flying... soldiers honored for their bravery and sacrifice...

I got back to Canada and saw the war graves in our local cemetery... shameful...

EB

 

[david doyle]

I wonder what that coward Jack Layton would say to that.

What are you suggesting exactly? Canada did not tolerate the casualties in 1916, 1917 if you knew your history you'd know we had to draft men, recruitment campaigns were horrendously unsuccessful and that desertion in Canada was a serious problem. In truth the bulk of our troops were made up of landless first generation immigrants. Arrests for failure to comply with conscription were mostly restricted to the poor and Irish even though pretty much everyone refused to show up. The average joe in 1917 knew exactly what was waiting for them in europe.

I can think of many more useful tasks for Canada's best and bravest then to die in some s**thole. Does that make me a coward as well? It sure does'nt make any of the combat vetrans that I know cowards when they have that opinion.

So tell us what goal do you figure is worth the lives of the men and women who can contribute most to our communities and families?

 

[rattus]

I visited Vimy 2 years ago and came away terribly disappointed. We had just been at Ypres and taken a tour there with a very knowledgeable Brit, an ex-soldier with a son in Iraq. That guy knew his stuff! Our experience in Vimy was the opposite. The tour guides were two teenage girls from New Brunswick and Ontario, part of a student program that takes University students to France to live an work. Frankly, it was disgraceful. Their knowledge was extremely limited and seemed only to be as deep as the short training they had. They had no knowledge nor apparent interest in things military, and used really inappropriate language in describing the events. They told our group that Canadian officers "laughed and giggled" in the mess, that after the battle many men were "sad" and told us that the Black Watch had lead the attack. That last thing was interesting because most of the tour were Brits and they must have thought that their Black Watch was there, the tour guides didn't know there was another Black Watch, the Canadian Highland Regiment as opposed to the Brit Black Watch. Further, the displays in the very small building were generic and not at all useful to understanding Vimy, and the signage on site was almost nonexistent. To me, the Vimy site deserves more than summer students on a French piss up, to be blunt, and I wrote my MP as much. This site desreves professional guides with real knowledge and perhaps military experience, or at least students from the Military College and not the bimbettes chosen mostly because they are bilingual.

 

[hakx]

I was there in 2007 with the CF. I plan to go back on my own dime when I can spend more time there, continue on to Beamont-Hamel, & the Juno Beach center.

 

[Canuck44]

So tell us what goal do you figure is worth the lives of the men and women who can contribute most to our communities and families?

Freedom for their communities and famlies. That was what was at stake in 1914 and again in 1939. That is what is at stake now, as it has always been. Freedom isn't free.

Grand-dad survived Vimy, having volunteered 1914. The only thing he ever said about Vimy and the war was it was hell, then he would look away and his hands would tremble.

Take Care

Bob
ps He owned property and he wasn't Irish.