A group of 15 Parksville students and two teachers will be among the 20,000 Canadians at Vimy Ridge to mark the 100th anniversary of a battle that some say symbolized the birth of Canada as a nation.
Having left for France on Saturday, April 1, the group from Ballenas Secondary School plans to attend the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9, followed by several more days of travel tracing the footsteps of the Canadian Corps up to Mons, Belgium, as well as visits to London, Arras, Normandy and Paris.
The group is led by modern languages teacher Jon Preston — a former tour guide at Vimy Ridge.
“I think it’s important that they experience this as an historical event,” he said. “It’s the 100th anniversary and it will only happen once. It’s a great site in terms of recognizing Canada’s contributions… specifically in the First World War, and the sacrifices Canadian soldiers made there.”
In advance of the 17-day trip, students were tasked with researching and presenting information on the places they will visit during each day of the trip.
One reason the Battle of Vimy Ridge is significant, said student Jack Confortin, is because it was the first time the Canadian divisions fought together, instead of being mixed in amongst other allied troops.
Also, the Canadians, from a country just 50 years old at the time, were able to take back the ridge when the French had been unable to do so with a much larger force, he said.
“I think it’s really important,” said Confortin of the battle. “I’m excited to go see (the monument).”
“It’s incredible,” Sophie Gooch said of being able to attend the 100th anniversary of the battle.
Gooch, a student originally from London, England, said, “it’s amazing that a few hours in history can be so significant that all these Canadians join to celebrate and mark that moment in time.”
Preston said he hopes some of what he learned as a tour guide will stick with the students.
He said the sheer immensity of what Canadian troops had done is what stays with him.
“Britain had tried to take back this ridge (a significant strategic point), as had France, and they lost 150,000 troops trying to take back Vimy Ridge. The Canadian corps was only 35,000 strong at the time,” explained Preston.
Most of the battles of the First World War had been massacres on both sides up until that point, and Canada was not expected to accomplish much at Vimy Ridge, he said.
But new tactics, including training soldiers for specific roles, observing aerial photographs, timing maneuvers to specific times in the battle, and a creeping barrage of artillery, in addition to the bravery and sacrifice of many soldiers, allowed the Canadian Corps to push the Germans back five kilometres.
The cost was 3,598 Canadians killed and another 7,000 wounded, but the ridge would be an important vantage point for the Allies, said Preston.
Brig.-Gen. A.E. Ross declared after the war, “in those few minutes, I witnessed the birth of a nation.”
Preston said he is very excited to experience the 100th anniversary event, along with his students.
“We are just 15 students and two teachers from Parksville, but we are going to be there with everybody else enjoying this momentous occasion.”