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Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to
those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is
the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain
from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of
Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road
to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The
Memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well
signposted. The Memorial does more than mark the site of the engagement
which Canadians were to remember with more pride than any other operation
of the First World War. It stands as a tribute to all who served their
country in battle in that four-year struggle, and particularly to those
who gave their lives. At the base of the Memorial, these words appear in
French and in English: TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR
AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE
PEOPLE OF CANADA Inscribed on the ramparts of the Memorial are the names
of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as "missing, presumed
dead" in France. The land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in
extent, was (as stated on a plaque at the entrance to the Memorial) "the
free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada".
Eleven thousand tonnes of concrete and masonry were required for the base
of the Memorial: and 5,500 tonnes of "trau" stone were brought from
Yugoslavia for the pylons and the sculptured figures. Construction of the
massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the
monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII. The park surrounding the
Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs
were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada.
Around the Memorial, beyond the grassy slopes of the approaches, are
wooded parklands. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved
and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the
Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was
made.
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