Canadian National Vimy Memorial

A massive structure, the Memorial contains 15,000 tonnes of concrete and steel, faced with 6,000 tonnes of Seget stone mined in Croatia. This white stone covers the monument, including the two towering pylons representing Canada and France’s sacrifice.

Huge blocks of the stone were also used to create the monument’s 20 sculptures. Surrounded by preserved battlefields, the Vimy Memorial sits high on Hill 145. In the distance, mounds of coal mining tailings are seen — a strategic industry during the war.

The Chorus contains eight sculptures representing the universal virtues Canadians fought for during the war: Peace, Justice, Honour, Hope, Charity, Faith, Truth and Knowledge. The statue of Peace towers more than 100 metres above the Douai Plain to the east.

Much of the battlefield at Vimy was left untouched to preserve features like the remains of this German bunker. Notice the height of the ridge and how far you can see when standing at the top of the hill.

The statue of “Canada Bereft” overlooks an empty soldier’s tomb at the base of the monument and represents Canada, a young nation mourning her fallen sons. Carved from a single stone, it is the monument’s largest sculpture.

The Vimy Memorial is located in northern France. This industrial area is rich in natural resources like coal, making it strategically important during the war. Piles of coal tailings in the distance remind us of the region’s important mining history.

By 1917, Vimy Ridge was an important part of the German defence system. Extensive planning and training helped the four divisions of the Canadian Corps capture the Ridge in April 1917. The Vimy Memorial was designed by Walter Allward, who spent eleven years building it (1925-1936). It honours all Canadians who served during the First World War and bears the names of 11,285 Canadians who died in France and at that time had no known grave.

The statue of the Torch Bearer references a line from the famous poem 'In Flanders Fields,' by Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae: “To you from failing hands we throw; the torch, be yours to hold it high.

Canadian families experienced deep tragedy and loss during and after the war. This suffering is represented by these statues of a male mourner (in view) and female mourner (to left) who symbolize grieving fathers and mothers mourning the loss of a child.

11,285 names are engraved on the Vimy Memorial to honour Canadian servicemen who fell in France during the First World War and whose bodies were unidentified or unrecovered at the time. These inscriptions are a permanent reminder of their sacrifice.

Most of the Vimy Memorial’s 117-hectare site is preserved battlefield. During the First World War, heavy bombardments pounded the muddy ground, creating thousands of shell holes. A century later, the scars of destruction are still visible.

Erected in the 1920s, the Moroccan Division Memorial commemorates the brave soldiers of the French Army’s Moroccan Division who lost their lives during the Battle of Artois, which included a fierce assault on Vimy Ridge in May 1915.

During the war, the fallen were buried close to where they died. Later, small or isolated burial sites were transferred to create larger cemeteries like Canadian Cemetery No. 2, which now contains nearly 3,000 Commonwealth burials—including more than 450 Canadians. 

These cemeteries are beautifully maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which ensures that each person is commemorated by name on a permanent and uniform headstone or memorial, without distinction based on rank, race or creed.

Every Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing more than 40 graves has a Cross of Sacrifice. Designed in 1918 by British architect Sir Reginald Blomfield, the stone cross is mounted on an octagonal base and features a bronze sword.

Commonwealth headstones often feature regimental badges or national emblems, like the Canadian maple leaf, as well as the person’s name, rank, unit and date of death. A message from their family also may be inscribed at the bottom.

While Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries often share common design elements like stone walls and wrought iron gates, each one is unique. Larger cemeteries have shelters containing a registry and map to help visitors locate specific graves.

Thirteen tunnels were dug in the chalky soil by specially trained Allied miners prior to the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Tunnels were key to providing shelter for men, storage for ammunition, and to facilitate communication and transportation.

Northern France is rich in chalk (a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock). For every metre of the tunnels they dug, soldiers concealed their work by burying 200 sandbags of chalk in nearby shell holes or craters.

The miners who dug these tunnels were experts. Knowing that chalk is a soft but sturdy rock, they dug tunnels with arched ceilings. Because this shape is self-supporting, fewer wooden beams were needed, making their work faster and more efficient.

With electric lighting still being relatively new, it is surprising to learn it was installed in the Grange Subway. Though dim, with just one 220-volt bulb every 20 metres, the freshly dug white chalk walls made things seem brighter.

This branch of the Grange Subway is named after the Canadian Black Watch who waited here for up to 36 hours before the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Can you find the mining tools left behind by tunnellers?

After the initial German advances of the war, movement on the Western Front soon virtually ground to a halt. At a stalemate, both sides dug in with frontline trenches zigzagging across nearly 1,000 kilometers of Belgium and France, from the North Sea to Switzerland.

Just 25 meters apart, these preserved German and Allied observation trenches would have been manned by about eight soldiers. Being so close together, they could sometimes hear their enemies across No Man’s Land.

Although we call them front lines, trenches were almost never straight. Frequent changes in direction helped limit damage from explosions and prevented attackers from having a clear line of sight during raids.

Today, the sides of this preserved trench are made of concrete but during the war sandbags would have supported the walls. Not only did they prevent earth from falling in, they also absorbed explosive shocks and offered soldiers additional protection.

With trenches open to the elements, water and mud were always a big problem. To help keep feet dry and enable quicker movement, duckboards were installed. Made of wooden planks, they kept some mud away and helped reduce trench foot.

Knowing what the enemy was doing was very useful information for soldiers. Using strategically placed observation posts like this one, they could direct artillery fire or observe troops movements using a trench periscope.

It is amazing to see how little space separated the German and Allied observation trenches at Vimy Ridge. Called No Man’s Land during the war, this narrow, scarred stretch of earth would have been covered in mud and piled high with barbed wire. With most of the trees in the area destroyed by months of artillery fire, the scene facing soldiers in 1917 would have been very different from the peaceful, grassy terrain we see today.

German troops were the first to occupy the high ground at Vimy during the First World War. To strengthen their defensive positions, they fortified lines of trenches with strong, long-lasting concrete pillboxes like this one.

Mines were sometimes strategically detonated by armies on both sides for no other reason than to modify the terrain. By blasting new craters and hills, they modified the landscape to create cover for troop advances and gain a strategic advantage.

People can learn about the First World War and the Battle of Vimy Ridge at the site’s Visitor Education Centre. Interpretation at Vimy is provided by Canadian student guides. Perhaps one day you can work here!

Today, Vimy Ridge is peaceful and serene—qualities that were only a dream to those who fought here in 1917. Instead of tall trees and soft grass, imagine thick mud, broken stumps, barbed wire and the chaos of war.