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Article: Vimy revisited: some say that Canada was born as a nation on Easter Sunday, 1917, when the Canadian Corps came together to capture Vimy Ridge and achieved an indisputable Allied victory on the Western Front. On Vimy's ninetieth anniversary, a re-enactor in a major CBC documentary on the Great War, the great-nephew of one of the soldiers, reflects on the battle's meaning for his generation and the consequences of the war to end all wars.
- Article from:
- The Beaver: Exploring Canada's History
- Article date:
- April 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Canada's National History Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On our last evening we gathered for one final act of remembrance. The remaining volunteers of the Great War Project, all of us descendants of World War I soldiers and nurses, formed a circle around a small burning pyre. Into the fire we each placed a cross from the cemetery beside our camp, each of which bore the name of one of our ancestors. As the crosses burned, we stood in silent union broken only by the sound of ceremonial bagpipes. The ritual was the culmination of two weeks of living, eating, and sleeping in the manner of our soldier-ancestors. Now we took one final moment together to remember our departed relatives and ponder the horror they faced in the muddy ...