Vimy Memorial face

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is one of Canada's most important overseas war memorials to those Canadians who gave their lives in the First World War. It was constructed as the national memorial for Canada's 60,000 war dead and is located in France, on the site of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The memorial stands atop Hill 145, near the towns of Vimy and Givenchy-en-Gohelle, in the Pas-de-Calais département of northern France. France deemed the area surrounding the monument, about 1 km², to be Canadian territory in 1922, as an expression of gratitude to the Canadian people for their sacrifice during the war and for capturing Vimy Ridge in April 1917. The entrance to the park bears the sign "the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada." Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This memorial in England lists the names of soldiers who died in the First World War. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nikolay II Aleksey Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert H. Asquith D. Lloyd George Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna... Combatants Canada United Kingdom German Empire Austria-Hungary Commanders Arthur Currie Julian Byng Ludwig von Falkenhausen Strength 30,000 Unknown Casualties 3,598 dead, 7,104 wounded 20,000 dead, 4,000 captured The Battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the opening battles in a larger British campaign known... The memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii commemorates American dead from wars in the Pacific. ... Vimy is city in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais département. ... Givenchy-en-Gohelle is a commune of northern France. ... Pas-de-Calais is a département in northern France named after the strait which it borders. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties. ...

History

The memorial was designed by Canadian sculptor the late Walter Seymour Allward, his proposal being selected from 160 submissions by Canadians who participated in a competition held in the early 1920s. Construction of the memorial commenced in 1925 and took 11 years; the official unveiling was on July 26, 1936, by King Edward VIII, as one of his few official duties during his short reign as King of Canada, in the presence of French President Albert Lebrun and over 50,000 Canadian and French veterans and their families.^[1] A sculpture is a three-dimensional object, which for the purposes of this article is man-made and selected for special recognition as art. ... Walter Seymour Allward (November 18, 1876 - April 24, 1955) was a Canadian sculptor, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who created many works, but, was probably most famous for the Vimy Ridge Memorial. ... The 1920s is a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor; later The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India from the death of his father, George V (1910–36), on... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The Arms of Her Majesty in Right of Canada, proclaimed by King George V, November 21, 1921. ... The President of France, known officially as the President of the Republic (Président de la République in French), is Frances elected Head of State. ... Albert Lebrun (August 29, 1871 - March 6, 1950) was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940, and as such was the last president of the Third Republic. ...

The two main pylons of the memorial, representing Canada and France, rise 30 metres above the sprawling stone platform.^[2] Various stone sculptures exhibit a wealth of symbolism and assist visitors in contemplating the memorial as a whole. Due to the height of Vimy Ridge, the topmost stone sculpture — representing peace — is approximately 110 metres above the Lens Plain to the east. The sculptures were created by Canadian artists, and record and illuminate the sacrifice of all who served during the war and, in particular, to the more than 66,000 men who lost their lives. The names of the 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died in France but who have no known grave are carved on the memorial (the names of those who died in Flanders are on the Menin Gate). Visitors approaching the front of the monument will see one of its central figures: a woman, hooded and cloaked, facing eastward toward the new day. Her eyes are downcast and her chin rests on her hand. Below her is a tomb, draped in laurel branches and bearing a helmet. This grieving figure represents Canada — a young nation mourning her fallen sons. Jacqueline Hucker, an Ottawa art historian from Ottawa who served on the conservation team that recently restored the Vimy monument, declares that "It was like no other war memorial that had gone before" because Vimy was not a war memorial which was devoted to triumph or the glory of a great military leader, but rather to a profound sense of duty towards the legions of men who filled the ranks of the dead.^[3] Hucker adds Lens is commune in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais département. ... Flanders (Dutch: ) has several main meanings: the social, cultural and linguistical, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings; generally called the Flemish community (others refer to this as the Flemish nation) which is, with over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians; the constituent governing institution... The Menin Gate Memorial at the eastern exit of the town of Ypres (known as Ieper in Dutch) in Flanders, Belgium, marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line during World War I. Designed by Sir...

"There are no signs of victory there at all...It expresses our obligation to the dead, and the grief of the living--sentiments of sacrifice that you do not see in war memorials until this time."^[4]

The 20 statues present on the Vimy Memorial site were originally sculpted by Allward in roughly life-size out of unfired clay. These were then replicated in more durable plaster, and the plaster copies were sent to France, where French stonecarvers replicated them again in stone, while doubling their size. The plaster working copies, nearly destroyed in the 1960s, are now on display in Canada, with the Canadian War Museum showing 17 and the Military Communications and Electronics Museum attached to Canadian Forces Base Kingston showing the remaining 3.^[5] The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Canada. ... Canadian Forces Base Kingston (also CFB Kingston or 1 Wing Kingston) is a Canadian Forces Base located in Kingston, Ontario. ...

Today the site is designated by the Canadian government as a National Historic Site. In addition to the monument itself the memorial includes a small museum, an area of preserved trenches and tunnels, and nearby cemeteries of those killed in the battle. The Canada wordmark, used by most agencies of the Canadian federal government. ... National Historic Site is a designation for a protected area of historic significance. ...

Vimy Ridge commemorative coin

In 2004, the memorial was closed for restoration work, including general cleaning and the recarving of names, with the statues moved off-site, cleaned and restored. The restored memorial will be inaugurated on April 9, 2007, the 90th anniversary of the battle. Following the precedent of her uncle, Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, will rededicate the monument. The rehabilitation plan for Vimy Memorial is part of the Canadian Battlefield Memorials Restoration Project, directed by Canada's Department of Veterans Affairs in cooperation with other Canadian departments, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, consultants and specialists in military history. Image File history File links 624592_Vimy. ... Image File history File links 624592_Vimy. ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, wearing the Sovereigns insignia of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit The style of the Canadian Sovereign has varied over the years. ... Canadas 13 First World War memorials were erected to honour and remember the achievements and sacrifices of Canadians and Newfoundlanders during the Great War. ... The Azmak Cemetery, near Suvla Bay, Turkey, contains the graves of some of the soldiers who died during the Gallipoli Campaign. ...

Trivia

Hitler visits the memorial after the fall of France.

• The magazine After the Battle published a photographic history of the site following the repatriation of Canada's Unknown Soldier, which included a ceremony at the Vimy Memorial. One of these photographs depicted the memorial's most notorious visitor: Adolf Hitler. In 1940, after his armies conquered France, Hitler toured the Vimy Memorial and its preserved trenches. Hitler had been decorated twice for bravery as an infantryman during the Great War and saw combat in the general vicinity of Vimy, often against Commonwealth soldiers in similar trenches. While Hitler had no qualms about destroying culturally significant locations in France including many French war monuments which were torn down by the Nazis, the Vimy memorial carried no messages of Allied triumph over Germany and thus was protected. University of Ottawa historian Serge Durflinger[1] notes that "Hitler admires it immensely, he says so at the time. As a result, the Germans respect[ed] the memorial all through the war."^[6]

• The novel The Stone Carvers, by Jane Urquhart, is set amongst the creation of the memorial.

• Pte. Herbert Peterson was killed during a raid on German trenches on the night of June 8-9, 1917, near Vimy Ridge. Peterson’s remains were not discovered until 2003. He was identified February 2007 through a DNA match with a relative. ^[7] There will be a Interment Ceremony for Private Herbert Peterson on Saturday, April 7, 2007 ^[8]

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (396x623, 80 KB) Summary From a WWII era German Newspaper showing Hitler at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (396x623, 80 KB) Summary From a WWII era German Newspaper showing Hitler at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. ... The Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located at the National War Memorial in Confederation Square, Ottawa. ... Hitler redirects here. ... The Stone Carvers is a 2001 historical and World War I novel by the Canadian writer Jane Urquhart. ... Jane Urquhart (born June 21, 1949) is a Canadian author. ...

References

The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper published in British Columbia since 1912 by the Pacific Newspaper Group Inc, a CanWest Global Communications Company. ...

External links

• Vimy Memorial - Veteran Affairs Canada
• Vimy War Memorial Gallery, including photos of Hitler's visit

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 50.379408° 2.774134°