Vimy

The Journey Begins. The time has finally arrived! Our Canadian Delegation of Veterans and youth set out in one of the greatest journeys of a lifetime – the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Mr. Bond describes several aspects of camp life.

Mr. Ganong gives a brief description of his service in Europe with emphasis on Vimy. In particular, he discusses the weather and the barrage preceding the Vimy assault.

Mr. Turner describes the role of his pocket knife and helmet in saving his life.

Mr. Turner discusses the fatalism that crept into the soldiers’ conversations, and gives a couple examples of predictions of death coming true

Mr. Wood describes the animosity between Canadian and American soldiers, based on the higher wages earned by U.S. soldiers inflating prices beyond what most Canadian troops could afford.

Mr. Wood describes the Germans’ use of pipelines to gas the Allied trenches, how the Canadians counteracted the gas, and in some cases how deadly it was.

Mr. Wood compares the Canadian designed Ross rifle, which was long, cumbersome and 5-shot bolt action, to the much more reliable 10-shot British Lee Enfield rifle. He describes how Canadians scavenged British rifles from dead soldiers.

Mr. Wood discusses the valuable role played by horses, particularly for moving artillery pieces and for moving supplies forward and evacuating the wounded on the narrow gauge railways constructed at the Front.

Mr. Close describes trench duty in general, then more specifically describes how he and an officer become targets of German artillery as they are attempting to get their rum and chocolate rations from stores.