Dr. Robert Ritchie speaks at last November’s Remembrance Day service at the cenotaph. The program he’s organized to honour the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge will follow a similar format. (Richard McGuire file photo)
The Osoyoos Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion will be holding a ceremony on April 9 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Bruce Davies, president of Branch 173, said the ceremony will be held at the cenotaph next to town hall and will include the laying of wreaths by branch members and local dignitaries.
The ceremony starts at 2 p.m. and Davies said it would be short, possibly lasting up to half an hour.
The battle in World War I, in which Canadian troops recaptured a ridge in northern France, is seen as an important milestone in Canadian history.
“It was the first real battle for the Canadian Army,” said Dr. Robert Ritchie, the Legion member who is organizing the program for the local ceremony.
“Before that, they all fought in divisions piecemeal under the British or the French, but with this one all the Canadians fought together under Canadian command,” said Ritchie. “It was really the first big military deal the Canadian Army had ever done – with very good success.”
But this success came at an enormous cost, Ritchie notes.
There were 3,598 Canadians killed and another 7,004 wounded.
“It didn’t actually win the war, but it made it possible to have it won,” said Ritchie. “If they hadn’t done that, they wouldn’t have won the war.”
Among those who will place a wreath during the commemoration will be Terry Schorn, a Legion member whose grandfather was killed at Ypres, said Davies.
Ypres, which is in Belgium about an hour’s drive from Vimy Ridge, was the scene of several major battles in World War I.
Ritchie said the program will be similar to the cenotaph ceremonies held on Remembrance Day.
There will be the usual bugle playing of the Last Post and Reveille, although it will be a recording because there is no bugler available.
There will also be short speeches along with the wreath laying and benediction.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge took place from April 9, Easter Monday, to April 12, 1917 and was an opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
Four Canadian Corps divisions faced three divisions of the German Sixth Army.
The goal was to re-take German-held high ground to allow troops to advance south of the ridge without facing German fire from the escarpment.
The Canadian attack was meticulously planned and the troops were trained in different specialties such as machine gunners, riflemen or grenade throwers.
Extensive tunnels were prepared to bring men from the rear to the front.
There had been previous attempts to take the ridge including one by French soldiers that resulted in more than 100,000 casualties.
The fact that the Battle of Vimy Ridge brought together Canadians from across the country who fought as Canadians has made it a symbol of Canada’s birth as a nation.
A Canadian monument now stands in France on Hill 145, the highest point on the ridge.
Ceremonies will be held this April 9 at the memorial in France and in Ottawa.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
