VIMY RIDGE DAY - 9 APRIL
Canada Red Ensign
Today's Flag
...is the Canadian Red Ensign. An informal flag used in varying configurations in Canada, and first popularized by Sir John A. MacDonald beginning in 1870. Officially adopted in this form after 1945, it appears frequently throughout World War One photographs of troops, recruiting efforts and victory parades. While the search for a truly Canadian symbol would continue until replacement of the official Royal Union Flag in 1965, many historians feel that the first spark of a Canadian identity independent of the British Empire, is ignited during the 1917 Battle for Vimy Ridge in France.
Vimy Ridge
Fifteen thousand Canadian infantry troops representing all of Canada and the entire Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, go on the offensive against enemy positions on a 7-km long front overlooking Allied positions. The ground where the Canadian Vimy Ridge memorial now stands, is won in a terrifying fixed-bayonet charge against an entrenched enemy defending with concentrations of machine-guns. The heroism and sacrifice of the fierce Canadian troops inspires waves of patriotism that sweep throughout all of Canada. Brigadier-General Arthur Edward Ross declares, "in those few minutes, I witnessed the birth of a nation."
(c) 1931, William Longstaff, House of Commons Collection, Ottawa
Monument to Peace
The awful aftermath of this battle includes 3,598 Canadians killed and another 7,000 wounded. It is a costly turning point of the war that culminates in victory for the Allied powers. The grateful nation of France goes on to give the land of that battlefield to Canada, as a gift in perpetuity and a location for the poignant and colossal Vimy Ridge monument, dedicated in 1936. The massive white marble sculpture is inscribed with the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers, who fall during the Great War, with no known graves. It is especially impactful, since it is a monument to peace and not war. Visiting the site, you will find that the Canadian sculptor, Walter Allward commissioned no depictions of cannons, guns, helmets or heroic soldiers - only a permanently grieving chorus of allegorical statues: Justice, Peace, Faith, Honour, Hope, Charity, Truth and Knowledge - each immobilized in eternal mourning for the losses of war.
UN Photo: UNEF in Gaza, 1956
Peacekeepers
Following World War One, the colonial world gives way to developing movements of national self-determination. The Canadian identity shaped at Vimy, is a part of the evolution of Canada from dominion under the British Empire into a fully-independent nation, taking a prominent place on the world stage after World War Two as peace-keeper. In 1956, as a significant part of the United Nations Emergency Force proposed by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, Canadian forces based in Rafah help provide the necessary restraint to help successfully end the Suez Crisis. The Egyptian government however, objects to our flag, raising questions about our neutrality in separating belligerents that include British forces. The determination of Lester Pearson and many others to secure the unique Canadian identity results in the adoption of the Red Maple Leaf in 1965, under which and around the globe, Canadians continue to respectably serve all people in the pursuit of peace.
DND Photo IS2013-2002-054, by Master Corporal Marc-André Gaudreault
In 2003, the Canadian government, responding to the initiative of Algoma-Manitoulin MP Brent St-Denis, votes to designate this day to be observed as an annual recognition of the patriotism and heroism shown that day. It is also a somber reminder of the tragedy of war, that takes the lives of so many young Canadians, as well as an enduring National identity defined by that first desperate charge, begun at 5:30 am on 9 April 1917.