Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge took place during World War one it was a key German defense system. It was located in Northern France, and was one of the most heavily defended points on the Western Front. It was said to be almost impossible to re-gain Vimy Ridge, so the allied commanders sent out the newly victorious Canadian troops to try and re-gain the land. Even though other attempts at this had failed, it was believed that with the proper training and making a full scale replica of Vimy Ridge the Canadian troops could be successful.

Vimy Ridge was a strategic 14-kilometer long piece of land in northern France, and it was heavily defended by the German troops. It was a crucial point that allowed the Germans to control much of the surrounding territory. It had a maze of trenches that wove along, and connected the Germans to a network of natural caves. Also in Germans advantage it had machine guns, and deep dug-outs. One hundred and fifty thousand French and British soldiers had died trying to take reclaim this land, it was said that Vimy Ridge was incapable of defeat.

In spite of the obstacles that needed to be overcome the allied commanders decided to device another attack. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps where brought together joined by the British 5th Infantry Division. These troops had been brought in to strategize another attack on Vimy Ridge. The attack had been planned for months; a full scale replica of Vimy ridge had been made to prepare unit commanders on what to expect during the battle. Canadian spotters had identified and mapped out about 80 percent of the main German gun positions. There where also five kilometers of tunnels built, so that the Canadian troops could move along with ammunition without being seen by Germans observers. The battle at Vimy ridge took place in the freezing cold on April 9th 1917.

The Battle was between the four divisions of the Canadian Corps, and where joined by the British 5th Infantry Division under the leadership of; General Arthur Currie, General Julian Byng. Against The German troops who where defending Vimy ridge under the leadership of General Ludwig von Falkenhausen. The Battle began when the thirty thousand strong Canadian Corps began using a creeping barrage. A creeping barrage is a military tactic in which massed artillery support an infantry advance by firing continuously at positions just in front of the advancing troops. This tactic was an improvement from previous battles. This disabled a lot of the German artillery for the soldiers who where trained to be on foot.