The year 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of the creation of Canada on July 1, 1867. This year is also the centennial of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. For many, Vimy is not only one of Canada's greatest military victories of the First World War. It is also an iconic event that helped to forge a sense of nationhood in Canada.
Vimy Ridge is a high chalk ridge, which gives a commanding view of the broad plains of northeastern France. Consequently, it became a highly strategic point along the battle lines of the Western Front.
The Allied armies made a series of powerful, almost desperate, attempts to capture the ridge. Each assault failed, at a cost of tens of thousands of lives. In the spring of 1917, the Canadian Corps was given the task of seizing Vimy Ridge.
The Canadian soldiers had already distinguished themselves as effective assault troops. In particular, they had proven themselves adept at unconventional tactics. They also became known for use of artillery and expenditure of ammunition rather than lives.
At Vimy Ridge, the Canadians would be fighting for the first time as a whole corps with all four divisions. As well, they were expected to meet their objectives with 50,000 fewer men than the French and British armies had lost in casualties at Vimy.
The Canadians spent an enormous amount of time planning and preparing. Strategies were tested and modified. Troops were trained in the battle plans to the smallest details. Great quantities of equipment, supplies and ammunition were stockpiled. Finally, by the end of March 1917, the Canadians were viewed as the best-trained and prepared troops in the Allied Forces.
At 5:30 on the morning of Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, a barrage of artillery erupted. The battle commenced.
The barrage was one of the greatest in history. It was a true example of shock and awe. The guns fired three thousand shells per second, more than six million rounds in total. Observers likened it to a phenomenal summer thunderstorm, only with cascades of metal instead of rain and hail.
The German defensives were pulverized. The barrage also provided a protective canopy as the first wave of Canadians charged out of the trenches.
The successes were swift and outstanding. In one day, most of the ridge was captured. The Canadians had suddenly succeeded where hundreds of thousand had failed. However, it was a victory with an incredible cost. There were 10,600 casualties including 3,600 deaths.
Among the first reports back to Innisfail about the casualties at Vimy Ridge stated that Horace Meeres of the 187th Battalion had been wounded. The 187th had been raised in the spring of 1916, with the formal presentation of the regimental colours taking place at Innisfail. His son Raymond, of the 12th Canadian Mounted Rifles, was badly wounded in the lungs.
However, many of the men of the 187th Battalion were not in the initial assault on Vimy Ridge because they had been held back in the fall of 1916 due to an outbreak of mumps. Many of the 12th Canadian Mounted Rifles had already been killed or wounded in the brutal Battle of the Somme in the latter part of 1916.
Hence, many of the subsequent reports of casualties from Vimy Ridge involved men who had enlisted with the 89th Battalion in the winter of 1915-1916.
The first to be reported killed in action were three young friends, Sydney Songhurst, Water Gowans and Joseph Snider, of the Hill End district east of Penhold. They had all joined the 89 together. All three lost their lives on the morning of April 9.
The flow of bad news soon became a flood. Word was received that Alfred Hornett, also of Hill End, had been killed. Will Richards, of Horn Hill, who had been the sole survivor of his unit in the Battle of the Somme, was killed at Vimy.
Robert Gordon, Wallace Briggs, and Roy Smith, all of Innisfail, were reported wounded. Smith had enlisted shortly after his 18 birthday. Joseph Mitchell was reported to have died of wounds, but actually had survived.
“Duke” Wildman of the Little Red Deer district was badly wounded as was Edmund Hives of Penhold and J.L. Burke of Milnerton. Then word was received that Arthur Bryant of Innisfail in the 89th had been badly wounded in the abdomen as had J.O. Robertson.
As the battle in and around Vimy Ridge continued, more news of dead and wounded was received. G.W. Hill had written home right after the initial assault on Vimy to say he was OK. Tragically, he lost his life shortly thereafter. Miller Sim, who had been praised for carrying wounded from the battlefield, died of his own wounds. Oswald Knight, who had won the Military Cross for bravery, was killed in action.
These are only some of the names of the local men who were killed or wounded.
The bad news from overseas continued until the Innisfail Province wrote “the War is coming to Innisfail every day.” The paper added, “Innisfail men are doing their bit in Bloody Flanders.”
A measure of the devastating impact on Central Alberta came one month after Vimy Ridge, on Sunday, June 10, 1917. A special memorial service was held at the Hill End schoolhouse for 11 young men who had now lost their lives in the war.
Although the war was far from over, almost an entire generation of young men from one area had lost their lives.
Michael Dawe is a retired historian for the City of Red Deer and now a city councillor.
Michael Dawe
The bad news from overseas continued until the Innisfail Province wrote "the War is coming to Innisfail every day." The paper added, "Innisfail men are doing their bit in Bloody Flanders."
