By Rick Pusiak
Sudburians have a chance Sunday afternoon to help commemorate one of the most important wartime victories in Canadian history.
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A service of remembrance honouring those who fought and died in the First World War battle of Vimy Ridge is scheduled to start at 3 pm in the Church of the Epiphany on Larch Street in downtown Sudbury.
The ceremony is open to all faith traditions, all ages and the general public is encouraged to attend.
Solemn observances begin with a march of veterans and cadets from Tom Davies Square to the church.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 76 chaplain, retired Rev. Robert Lumley, will then lead the service.
He said cadets will read from the Bible and say a devotion.
Hymns to be sung include Onward Christian Soldiers, Oh Valiant Hearts Who To Your Glory Came and The Lord Is My Shepherd.
Legionnaires will give four short talks on what Canada was like before the start of the First World War in 1914, preparation for the battle on the Douai plain in northern France, the battle itself that started at dawn on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, and finally the impact of Vimy Ridge on our people and on Canadian politics.
"It was the battle that drew all of Canada together, it was a great bonding thing," said Lumley.
"Up to that time Canada was a series of isolated communities. At Vimy people from each of these communities (were in battle)...the people back home were aware that they were together as a unit and that Canada meant something in the world."
Canada was still basically a colony of Great Britain when war in Europe broke out.
Many of our soldiers who signed up did so to aid the mother country but over the next four years Canadian troops developed a sense of identity.
And it all came together when our boys were given the job of taking Vimy Ridge from enemy German forces.
The ridge was the high ground in an otherwise pretty flat area.
French forces tried but failed to drive the enemy away in 1915 and the attempt cost them. It is estimated between 160,000 and 200,000 men were lost.
British attacks failed in 1916. Again the casualty list was long.
In October of that year the Canadian Corps took over the sector and planning began for another assault.
There was constant training and when the battle began a tactic called the creeping barrage was used with great success. Artillery guns would fire on a position then our troops would advance. The guns would open up again a little further ahead, then Canadian soldiers would take that ground. By mid-afternoon the Germans were hanging on to only two positions. A few days later the Canadian victory was complete.
Lt.-Gen. Sir Arthur Currie, born in Strathroy Ontario, was one of the key planners of the assault.
A few months later he was named commander of the Canadian Corps, the first time a Canadian was put in charge of overall command.
Some 3,700 Canadians were killed at Vimy Ridge.
There were another 7,000 Canadians wounded.
Almost 100,000 Canadians were involved in the battle.
According to Laurentian University professor Dr. Graeme Mount, from that point onward then prime minister Robert Borden started demanding a greater degree of control over Canada's foreign relations.
"He insisted that (since) so many Canadians died in World War I, and of course Vimy would have been the bloodiest battle of them all from a Canadian stand point, that Canada should have the same rights to sign the Treaty of Versailles...as say lessor allies (like) Belgium and Serbia," said Mount.
In 1921 Canada elected a Liberal government under prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King that started carving out its own path in foreign relations.
During the 1920s Canada started opening legations, small scale embassies, in the United States, France and Japan.
The government also indicated Canada would not be bound by British treaties and began to negotiate bilateral agreements rather than have a colonial power negotiate for us.
"So I think all that is definitely an outgrowth of World War I and in particular, Vimy," said Mount.
