The story of this place
On 9 April 1917, Easter Monday, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked together for the first time and stormed Vimy Ridge, a heavily fortified German position in northern France that the French and British had failed to take at enormous cost. Advancing behind a meticulously timed creeping barrage, the Canadians seized the ridge in days, at a cost of 3,598 killed. The victory became a defining moment of national pride, often called the birth of Canada as a nation. On the crest stands Walter Allward's soaring white memorial, unveiled in 1936, its twin pylons and mourning figures inscribed with 11,285 names of Canadians killed in France with no known grave. Preserved trenches and tunnels honeycomb the ground.