Vimy Ridge :: essays research papers

&65279 Vimy rooftreeThis essay will describe the events that took place at Vimy Ridge during WorldWar I. Britain and France both attempted to take control of the Ridge which wascurrently occupied by the German Army and both failed. It was left(a) to the CanadianArmy to take the Ridge. This essay will prove that after many struggles, and carefulpreparation, Canada was defined as a Nation at Vimy Ridge.Vimy Ridge was a key to the German defence system. It rose 61 m. abovethe Douai Plain which favoured the Germans because there was a gradual inclineon the West. This meant that the Canadians would have to round off over open groundwhere they would become prime targets for German artillery, machine guns and riflefire.Military mining played a big role in the battle of Vimy Ridge. Engineers built anetwork of tunnels under no-mans land. They also dug subways totalling more than5 km. in length, through which assault soldiers could move to their jumping-off points. The subways provided s ecurity system from foeman artillery fire, and permitted thewounded to be brought back from the battlefield. Chambers were cut into the wallsof the subway for brigade and battalion headquarters, ammunitions stores,communication centres and dressing stations.The taking of Vimy Ridge furious to the Canadian Corps under the command ofthe British General Julian Byng. He appointed the Canadian born Major GeneralArthur Currie as the air force officer of the 1st Canadian Division. Currie believedThorough preparation must lead to success. Neglect nothing.. He left nothing tochance, e actually stage of the attack was planned to the very last detail. General Curriehad a full scale model of Vimy Ridge built to train his soldiers. They got the locationsof every trench, machine gun and other valuable information about the enemy byusing aerial photographs taken by the Royal Flying Corps and information fromintelligence raids across enemy lines. everywhere 1,400 Canadians lost their livesretrie ving this information. The key positions of the model were marked with flagsand coloured tape. Currie had his soldiers practice and rehearse every step theywould take on the day of the attack, so when the day came, the troops would be fullyinformed about their objectives and their routes. Maps were given out to guide eventhe smallest units. The soldiers were also trained to use the enemy machine gunsso when the enemy guns were captured, they would know how to use them.The German defence system was made up of three defensive lines. Theyconsisted of a maze of trenches, concrete machine gun infrangible points that had