1. Battle of
Vimy Ridge

2. “Training, training, training! Master that gun! Master that gun!...
We used to say that our gunners got so good, you know, that they could
dissemble a gun, put it in a scoop and throw it in the air, and it’d come down
assembled and shoot.”- E.S.Russenholt, 44th (Manitoba) Battalio

3. Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France
April 9 – 12, 1917

4. The attack began at dawn on Easter Monday, April, 9 in 1917.
The Canadians had taken over the crest of Vimy Ridge by afternoon that day.
By April 12, the Canadians controlled the entire ridge.

5. Preparing for the battle
Formerly, maps were only to be used by officers and they were rarely seen by the men.
All 40,000 men were given a marked map for the battle of Vimy Ridge.
“ The troops were conducted over a replica of the battlefield with tapes, flags and signposts indicating German trenches, barbed wire entanglements, machine gun posts, and other strong posts. Each man was told what to expect and when to expect it, what his objective was and how long it would take to get there…” – Daniel G. Dancocks

6. Week of Suffering

7. McNaughton’s Flash spotting
New Tactics
Vimy Glide – advancing at a measured pace of 100 yards every 3 minutes to match a creeping artillery barrage.
McNaughton’s Flash spotting
and sound ranging
A series of microphones were set up along the front. It would pick the sounds as the shells moved through the air and the location of the gun was determined from the time intervals between the microphones by McNaughton and his staff.

8. Machinery
Canada

9. Weapons
machine guns

10. Weapons
asphyxiating (suffocating) / blistering gas

11. Weapons
grenades

12. Statistics 3 598 dead, 7 004 wounded 20 000 dead or wounded
4 000 captured
# of soldiers involved unknown
soldiers involved
In previous Allies’ attempts to take over the ridge, Canadians, British, French and Germans were killed and buried.

13. Sir Julian Byng commander of the British and Canadian Corps
the capture of Vimy Ridge
Byng had relied on General Arthur Currie to capture Vimy Ridge

14. A.W. Currie
Arrived at the front in the spring of 1915 and became the commander of the 1st division that September.
Emerged as a hero in the
second battle of Ypres and
became the commander of
the senior Canadian
Divisional Commander.

15. Billy Bishop Top Canadian flying ace during World War one.
Took part in the battle of
Vimy Ridge as one of the
fighter pilots
“…Nor could I believe that the little brown
figures moving about below me were really
men- men going to the glory of victory or
the glory of death.”

16. Air Battle over Vimy Ridge
The Royal Flying Corps had 369 observation planes and 385 available fighters.
Germans had one third of this total.
However, the Germans had more advanced guns and they also had the Red Baron and his legendary Flying Circus.

17. Bloody April
The month of April became to be known as Bloody April because of the warfare in the skies above Vimy.
The Red Baron alone had made thirty kills during that month.

18. Victory
By mid-afternoon, April 12, 1917, the Canadians had earned complete victory over the Germans.
Not only did the Canadians gain Vimy Ridge back from the Germans, they had earned pride and recognition as an independent nation.

19. Vimy Ridge Battle Honours
Major – General Arthur Currie Knighted
Victoria Cross to Private William Milne
Victoria Cross to Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton
Victoria Cross to Captain Thaine MacDowell
Victoria Cross to Private John Pattison

20. Bibliography
"Battles: the Battle of Vimy Ridge, 1917." First World War. 25 Oct <
Freeman, Bill, and Richard Nielsen. Far From Home. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryers Ltd., 1999.
"The Battle of Vimy Ridge." Veterans Affairs Canada. 24 Oct <
"The Battle of Vimy Ridge." War Museum. 1 Nov <
"Vimy Ridge." Spartacus Educational. 27 Oct <
"Vimy Ridge." Vimy Ridge. 20 Oct <

21. http://www. vac-acc. gc. ca/remembers/sub. cfm