Ira Hamilton Hayes was an Akimel O'odham, or Pima Native American, and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community. A veteran of World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima, Hayes was trained as a Paramarine in the United States Marine Corps (USMC), and became one of five Marines, along with a United States Navy corpsman, immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.…
In 1917, Canadian troops were asked to take Passchendaele Ridge. They had to break through the German lines near Ypres, Belgium. This Battle became known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The battle of Passchendaele just became a part of this larger battle. It was very important to capture the German occupied Belgium channel ports because most of Germany’s deadly submarines were operated from them. Through the three months of fighting the Canadians proved themselves as an elite fighting Corp and received honors reflecting that. In the end, 9 soldiers received the Victoria Cross in recognition of their outstanding effort at Passchendaele. This battle is remembered for its atrocious conditions, heavy causalities, and Canadian…
This article, “Hundreds gather throughout GTA to mark century since Vimy Ridge battle” is about the gather for the Vimy Ridge battle. This big gather took place in North York. Very many people from both Toronto and Brampton wanted to take place in this respectful gather. John Tory was honoured to speak about the young men who fought for Canada. He spoke of the 3600 men killed and the 7000 men wounded. This three-day battle is an unforgettable event to all the people at North York. This North York event has much messages that everyone will look back to.…
In Canada, there were many pilots being trained to fly airplanes. Billy Bishop was Canada’s top air ace in the First World War, due to the fact he shot down 72 enemy planes. He was the second best air pilot second to Manfred von Richthofen also known as The Red Baron. When the French and Canadian troops went to war in the Belgian town of Ypres on April 22, 1915 the German’s attacked with chlorine gas. Many soldiers suffocated or choked to death from the deadly fumes. This was the Battle of Ypres, where more than 6000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or captured. Even with the Germans using their chlorine gas, the battle lasted for a month, but neither side gained much advantage. The Battle of the Somme was near the Somme River in France in July, 1916. Canada had 24,000 casualties at the Somme. Both sides suffered heavy losses. Despite all the casualties, the Canadian troops distinguished themselves as brave soldiers during the battle of the Somme. In the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Lieutenant-General Julian Byng led Canadians to an astounding victory. The Canadian Corps captured German position, gaining more ground, and capturing more artillery than most of their allies. In this battle there were 3,598 men killed. The Battle of Vimy Ridge gave Canadians a sense of national pride and the reputation of being an elite fighting force. When the Canadians captured Passchendaele, with Canadian general Arthur Currie, the “victory” resulted in more than 200,000 casualties on each side. This included 15,000 Canadians. On August 8th to November…
A defining moment for Canada in World War 1 was the battle of Vimy Ridge, which took place on April 9, 1917. This was the first battle that Canadians planned and executed. It was fought without any help from the British or the French and was strategically led in its entirety by Canadian soldiers under the command of Sir Arthur Currie. It is arguable that this was the point at which Canada proved itself as capable of being a nation on its own and began to gain a bit of independence from Britain.…
* Canadians volunteered to join the war because they believed it would be over by Christmas. Others joined because they were unemployed and the war would bring them out of hardships. Women were considered too frail. Women worked as nurses and ambulance drivers. Canadian officials did not accept aboriginal people and were reluctant to take African and Japanese.…
Although Canadian soldiers operated with British overseers at Vimy Ridge, the Canadian led victory demonstrated to the world that Canada had become a sovereign nation. Firstly, the victory at Vimy Ridge is recognized by many Canadians and other people from around the world as an important point in the war, and in the sovereignty of Canada. As stated by the Ministry of Public Works and Government Services in Canada in the First World War and the Road to Vimy Ridge: “The success at Vimy marked a profound turning-point for the Allies. A year and a half later, the Great War was over. The Canadian record, crowned by the achievements of Vimy, won Canada a separate signature on the Versailles Peace Treaty ending the war.” This quote includes that Canada gained a separate signature from Britain on the Versaille Peace Treaty, marking the beginning of them becoming their own nation as this was one of the first times that Canada was considered to be a separate nation from Britain. Later after the war, likely due in part to their contributions at Vimy ridge, Canada gained their own vote at the League of Nations separate from the vote of Britain. As said by Pierre Berton in a publication titled Vimy: “It is a historical fact that Canada entered the war as a junior partner of Great Britain and emerged as an equal, her status confirmed when she, with the other Dominions, was given her own vote at the League of Nations.” As we can see from this quote, Canada gained recognition as an equal to Great Britain in the eyes of the people of the world through the respect granted to them, and with…
The Battle Vimy Ridge was the most famous battle in Canadian history. Vimy Ridge was won by Canada in just a matter of days after other countries tried for years but failed. Vimy Ridge would never have been taken over without the leaders Sir Julian Byng and Sir Arthur Currie who played a huge part in the winning of the ridge. The winning of the Battle of Vimy Ridge proved to the other countries that Canada was and still is a proud and capable nation.…
“I thought then... that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.”…
During the first world war there were many battles of success and failure. The battle of Vimy Ridge was the first successful battle all because of Canadians. This was a turning point for all Canadians because it made them proud of their country. This battle took place on April 9,1917. From the failure of the battle of the somme, Britain and France thought it would be a good idea to turn to the Canadians. For the first time Canadian soldiers were asked to participate in the battle. They needed new strategies to finally win because they were tired of losing to Germany. “It was time for a change” says commander general Alexander Robins, of the British army.…
Vimy ridge was a vital key in the defense of the Hindenburg line, therefore it was well fortified and heavily protected. This was another battle that the Canadians were called to when it seemed impossible to win. The Canadian’s strategy to win this battle was to bombard the ridge with artillery fire from March 20, 1917 until April 9th. The Canadians then proceeded to use a technique called the Creeping Barrage, where they snuck closer and closer to the line a few hundred yards at a time with their artillery firing just in front of them. By using this technique, the Canadians made progress rather quickly, and after 3 days Canadians had successfully captured Vimy ridge at the loss of 3500 Canadian soldiers.…
On April 19th, 1917, the battle of Vimy Ridge took place at the North Eastern France. Vimy Ridge was thought to be the best military position for the German against the British / France forces due to the highland advantages. Vimy Ridge is one of the most famous battles of World War I and a Canadian general, Arthur Currie, was the key of this victory. It was the first battle that the majority of the force was consisted of the Canadians attacked together, led by a Canadian General, and achieved a magnificent victory.…
Dear Mother, It’s been a long time since I had the opportunity to sit down and write you a letter. I miss you and father a lot. I am overjoyed to be writing this letter to you. The mood here is one of jubilation. Our assault on Vimy Ridge began at 5:30 am on Easter Monday, eight days ago. We lost a lot of good boys but I am so very pleased to inform you that the Canucks got the job done! What the French couldn’t do for two years and the Brits too we, Byng’s Boys did in three days. I was assigned to the front line in the trenches as part of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade attached to the 4th Canadian Division. This is actually the first time all four divisions got to work together as a unified Canadian Corps. They practiced us to death. The Captain kept going over and over and over every detail of our attack. It got to a point that we could have attacked those Germans in our sleep and you know how much I love my sleep Mother. The morning arrived. The weather was vile. A sleet storm fell on the plains of Douai making the already treacherous ground a quagmire of mud and puddles. Then we unleashed heaven’s fury on the Germans. I cannot describe adequately the sound of the artillery barrage we put upon the Huns. I can only compare it to what an ant might experience sitting on the muzzle end of a machine gun. The unbearable thunder of the shells and the rattle of the machine guns made it unable to hear my own thoughts let alone the chap next to me in the trench. If you looked up Mother, the sky was a carpet of red hot metal. Consistent firing of bullets and shells created an area above the ground where nothing could survive. As a matter of fact I believe I heard that four of our own airplanes were shot down because they flew too low into the onslaught.…
One of the biggest events that occurred in that decade was the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Some say it was the time Canada surfaced from under Britain's supremacy; others feel that it was a time of Canada's independence. It was a tough battle but the consistency and the devotion of Canadian soldiers had won the surrender of the German Army. The success of this battle is the reason why it is valued as an immense event in Canadian History.…
Canada was one of Great Britain’s empires who fought under British units, or in the Canadian Corps formed by the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. These Canadians, who fought aside with their ‘mother country’ Great Britain, earned a reputation as an independent strong fighting force. They earned this reputation by World War I’s battles called, Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. The Canadian soldiers who fought in Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele were in the Canadian Corps that used the tactics commanded by a general named, Arthur Currie. General Currie's desire was for the four divisions of the Canadian Corps to fight together to take hold of Vimy Ridge. Arthur Currie made precise plans of military tactics to his army that no general has done to their troops in the past battles. General Currie gave his troops maps, and had made a duplicate model of Vimy Ridge so that soldiers are able to have an ideal look at their main objectives. Arthur Currie also trained his troops in precise timing for their artillery skills, for a tactic known as the creeping barrage. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps used these tactics and took hold of Vimy Ridge, where they…