The Battle of Vimy Ridge

[Hippophilee]

In 1914 the French army's power was about 2/3 of the German army's, if we count firepower, number of divisions, organization and training of the reserve units. Moreover, Germany had a great plan to attack France and was ready for it, while none of the Allies expected a war. The British force was brave, but still very small, and didn't weigh much in the balance. I think that, if the Germans had made no mistake, they would have won by October 1914. Joffre just made less mistakes than Moltke...

[Hippophilee]

@coolboykid11, that's right. Germany had attacked France in 1914, with a plan to finish it off in 6 weeks. The French defended themselves and stopped the invasion at the Marne, then in other battles such as Verdun. It was only when they deployed thousands of tanks that they won the war, along with their allies (minus Russia, which had sadly thrown in the towel).

Remember that, in 1914, Germany was the world's military superpower. No other country could match the German army.

[CanadianForcesArmor]

havent scene foortage this good in a while

[Trashcansam123]

I salute you Canys (My new term for Canadians). You guys were crazyass muthafackas who did that shit. I admire your tenacity skill and courage and guess what?!?!

I'm an american saying this.

[butkicker75]

@Trashcansam123 thanks buddy eh

[butkicker75]

my great grandpa died here.

[MRJP4422]

My Great Grandpa fought in this war. He fought in Pashendale I think.

[DukeLeto1994]

Slogging through churned earth, crater-sinkholes, and German machine gun fire, Canada proved itself to be a superior fighting force out of major powers.

[pejb83]

(watches shrapnel and dirt explode all around him)

Canadian soldier : (cracks open beer and guzzles it down) "Time to give 'er"

[Litterboxer529]

My great grandpa was at Vimy Ridge with the 26th Battalion New Brunswick. He was originally from Germany (he came to Canada before the war), which is odd because he was killing his very own countrymen. After Vimy Ridge though, he considered himself to be Canadian, and realised that Canada was the "Little Engine that could"

[acerb45666555]

@Litterboxer529 ..my grandpa was in the same unit.

[Litterboxer529]

@acerb45666555 Odd. What was his name?

[acerb45666555]

@Litterboxer529 ........his family name i want to keep private. but he was born in New Brunswick in the town of Grand Falls. he snuk in army at age 17, they caught him and he had to wait till 1917-18 to get in the war. he was wounded 3 times. all minor injuries from bullet scrapes. and one damaged ankle from a mortar explosion. im suprised he lived at all!

[Litterboxer529]

@acerb45666555 Very interesting! Because I'm writing a book about my great-graps from the stories my grandpa told me along with some additional research.

From what my grandpa told me, his dad was wounded once and that was shrapnel to the thigh. He was 18 when he joined in early 1915, and he went over to England later in the year. His first engagement was at the Somme.

Glad to hear he made it out okay!

[jonlscott]

@gamlastanarn "We" the allies, canada did not win the war on our own nor did the americans or the russians or the british or the french

vimy ridge was just canadas part in the war, Canada won vimmy ridge, the allies won the war

[combatrifleman]

My grandfather was there. 44th Batallion from Winnepeg. He and his 2 brothers joined in May 1915. He suffered a GSW there but survived the war as did his brothers only to almost die in the 1918 flu epidemic. Of all this bickering here let there be no doubt that the Canadians did in a few days what the British and French had failed to do aver several years. Does that mean that they were tougher or braver? Maybe, but I think Currie had alot to do with it. Canada was born on 9 April 1917.

[SkaterKman]

I am proud of what all the countries did, I just wish they changed their tactics sooner. Maybe we wouldn't have lost as many as we did...

[JoeMaamaa]

As a Canadian, I am proud of all that we as a country achieved, and am proud of our standing in the world.

[skyarsalan]

did world war 1 and 2 not teach you people anything?

I think we have had enough deaths, thanks to greed, ignorance and of course HATE.

[CuriTheOrc]

Canadians were given the name "Stormtroopers" enough said

Rest in Peace all war heroes not just Canadians everyone

[CanadianStereotype]

Hey we won. We won Passchendaele. We took back Ypres in the first ever gas attack. The end. I don't care about historians. It's the truth. We won.

[Mrinsanepain]

@CanadianStereotype there is no winners in war just fallen men...

[VerbalBlitzkrieg]

HAHAAHAH  the Brits used the Canadians as cannon fodder in WW I, lol

[shaunyboy1000]

@VerbalBlitzkrieg the canadians took what the britsh couldnt

[chigaloo2]

Very good job Canada, the British 5th Infantry Division were also fighting alongside the Canadians at Vimy ridge.

[MrRyanGC]

shhhh, stop stealing our thunder :P

[chigaloo2]

Not at all MrRyan, got to give Canadains their due they were fantastic during all the battles of WW1 western front.

[xoMaNdY1994]

huh?...

how come i was told that Vimy Ridge was the 1st time Canadians fought by themselves againist Germany O_O

that it was the biggest single allied advance

& that all four of all Canadian Corps went into battle after months of training & perfecting their attack plan

[ivp110]

the british and the french were alongside canada i believe, but they fled leaving canada. i guess it is possible for some british soldiers that had stayed, but the entire strategy and attach was made by the Canadian Commander, Arthur Currie.

[xoMaNdY1994]

Ohhh Okay, thanks ^-^

[tirper1234567890]

Good job Canada We are proud of you!!!!

[potaoesNgravy]

all canadians shud be proud of this. we gained the reputaion as "shock troops"- the most feared soldiers of the allied forces. be proud of this. they died for you.

[xoMaNdY1994]

and i'm super proud of the brave canadian soilders that went into battle

BUT i think it was stupid that we joined the war it really had nothing to do with us besides britan and our loyalty to them

but i think that the soilders died for nothing really its not like Germany was going to go accross the sea to take our land when they had france, britan, italy, etc.

[potaoesNgravy]

@xoMaNdY1994 well we wer still a british colony so we really had no choice

[ivp110]

@potatoesNgravy ya we actually had no choice, since the British kept asking us for money, weapons and troops. Canadians that went to war were volunteered but weren't forced.

[12345Helper]

@potaoesNgravy : Actaully, this was the first battle that Canada asked for on it's own, not following the British.

[fp470]

@12345Helper Yes but the Canadian performance would not have been possible if not for the British army fighting all around the Canadian sector. This is part of the larger 3rd Ypres and theplan was loosely framed by British command, since you were just one corps in a the larger British army. You werew still following the British but were semi-independant to conduct your own operations.

[xGotGutsx]

@fp470 sorry but your wrong, i recently watched a documentary done by the british people. They said that the Canadians done it on there own. There was british help, but without Canada.. We would be speaking german right now.

[fp470]

@xGotGutsx You are sadly mistaken. The Canadians were a corps of the British Army, the British were fighting in neighbouring sectors and the Canadians performed well. But the larger picture was it was a British operation. You need to learn to read and you need to learn that the Canadian historians are the most biased about the Great War. Also your last claim about speaking German is ludicrous.

[Moose145675]

@fp470 We were under the British at that time but we had two different armies and it was a British commander not a British operation and the battle of Vimy ridge is how we got our independence and the British lost and so did the french so stop trying to put down an huge achievement just because the British lost doesn't mean you can put down Canada we had far less men and achieved more than most countries.

[fp470]

@Moose145675 The Canadian Corps was permitted to undertake operations of Corps nature on their own. However Vimy was PART of a wider operatiopn around 3rd Ypres. It was afforded within the context of wider British operations as part of a common goal. I did not underwrite the value of the operation. Read carefully my comment and do not conflate my or overstate my claims. Also your closing comments are unrelated to my reply.

[1Dougy85]

@fp470 Canadian historians are not the most biased about the war. Some Canadians are because they don't read enough from Canadian historians.

This was not Third Ypres but Battle of Arras, April 9 - May 26 1917. Total losses were 160,000 British, including 11,000 Canadian, - 200,000 German.

[fp470]

@1Dougy85 I appologise I conflated 3rdy Ypres/ Passchendaele with Arras which was the prior operation. It must be said that Candaian nationalists do overstate their role in the great war as an Elite formation. They were a better formation of the British army but not the only good one.

Canadian Historians are about 10 years behind other 'colonial' historians with their chest beating. They are producing better works now, but the older, less proffesional breed will have to die off first

[1Dougy85]

@fp470 I agree, you have your hands full here correcting them looking back a few pages. I think they have the right idea about role in the war but many are off with the facts.

They were an elite formation but so were the Australians and about half dozen British divisions.

I would like to maintain that it's not the fault of older Canadian historians, I've never found any differences between them and current ones.There are quotes from British historians that make Canadians beat chests.

[fp470]

@1Dougy85 Well the real thing I want people to realise is that the FIrst World War does not have broad sweeping truths, nothing does. Rather that the true history of canadians being a dynamic fighting formation that grew and evolved into the end product. I believe it does a disservice to the men who actualy fought to elevate them to supermen- rather they were human.

In regards to Canadian (and Australian) historians much of the mis-quoting is deliberate is the only contention I have.

[1Dougy85]

@fp470 I might be confused on what you are saying. If its- The true history is of Canadians being a dynamic fighting formation that grew and evolved into the end product - then I agree. There are many reasons why Vimy Ridge was won. It wasn't only superhuman skill or Currie's many pioneering techniques that were then used in the last Hundred Days, both of which is totally false of course.

[1Dougy85]

@fp470 Monash did but Currie never invented any of the techniques of WW1, still, that doesn’t detract from Currie being about the most successful General of the war. Any Canadian, British or other authors I’ve read never downgraded Currie and only acknowledged his success but none ever called him a military genius. All or most say that of Monash.

I think some mis-quoting by Canadians is deliberate, in a weak attempt (ignorance) to get a point across, most is because of ignorance

[fernank017]

they were called "Storm Troopers" not shock troops

[potaoesNgravy]

@fernank017 sorry. my mistake

[fuckyoublamshit]

@fernank017 no, thats the german word for shock troops

[TheDaltonator1234]

every other country tried taking over vimy but when the canadians came we pwned em all

[magicstorm1]

feared by the germans, boy you can just fck off. what kind of army that doesnt fear on enemy. ask a veteran soldier ask if he was brave, if he said yes the ask if he was scared and i betcha he would say yes. ' Any man that went over the top and came back and said he wasn't scared, Is A DAMN LiAR." a veteran ww1 soldier said that in a documentary,forgot his name though, What in trying to say is every army is ready to fight for their country,so you cant measure their bravery based on who won.

[paladin12122]

Sure everyones scared when they go over the top but the Canadians had a reputation, and weren't feared only because we were the enemy, but because we were Canadian. Ypres,Vimy,Paschenedelle were all Canadian succsesses, all of which could not have been accomplished without us. Not saying that we singlehandedly won the war but we were considered the key to any major offensive. So yeah we were feared by the Germans.

[niikodas]

@paladin12122 -absolutely right on ypres and vimy but don't forget juno, wentgot( not sure on the spelling on that one , it's a little battle cdn's had, a couple of are guy's against some tanks . the somme and ortona, italy, when patton and montgomery were measuring each others dicks it was up to cdn's to battle a tough exp. german side we

pushed thru and went to rome where the americans blocked us from going into rome because patton wanted to be there first

[niikodas]

@paladin12122 - out of VIMY we invented so much, aerial mapping,the first electronic war fare,topography mapping/modeling ,flash fire targeting ,roaming squads , fifth man fighting, underground sonar detection ,and when the boys went to town (london) for leave because we were payed more than the british we could drink more beer and they would put the empty glasses and bottles under the table to make more room for more beer , which is the first known saying of " DRINK THEM UNDER THE TABLE "

[bushmen123]

Sad how humans died like that,,total meat slabs, when we're all of comon blood.

[madbiker53]

respect

[renebeumer]

haha all the guys saying only canadians made ground.

the truth is , canadians did their job very well but so did the belgians , french , british and americans.

btw , the germans feared the belgians the most , they hold their fortesses till death and that bravery scared the germans.

( I aint belgian)

[madevr21]

the french? hahahahahahah for a large part the french were socialist pussies (even the socialists hated the germans enough apparently >_>) while the germans were very militaristic

[Fridomfry]

Funny that you confuse "French", "socialist" and "pussies". You must have a very confused mind but it's just normal that you know little of WW1, as your country just watched idle.

Perhaps some day, when you learn history, you'll hear of the battle of the Marne, of Verdun and of 100 other battles which would have made you shit in your pants.

[schuttz]

Yes, yes, everybody was great. But only the Canadians and ANZACs were genuinely feared by the Germans. There's countless evidence of that in the letters of German soldiers and the testimony of German POWs. The Canadian Corps, at Vimy, pioneered the techniques that were used in the Last Hundred Days by all Entente forces.

On the subject of the Belgians, you should read some history on the topic. The Belgians sat in their castles and got annihilated by German artillery.

[jan1035]

What a stupid discussion about who's the bravest. In this war it's impossible to imagine how cruel and inhumane it was. Everyone who stood his ground was a hero. This war was beyond believe of the internetheroes sitting behind their laptop arguing about "who's the bravest"

Don't make a fool of yourselve. Show some respect for all who gave their life

[Arabellis13]

yea sorry to say the us didnt FIGHT the had men there but they didint do shit to help the war

[flyergagne12]

at the end of ww1 canadians were the only troops feared by the germans and the only ones making ground

[littleleicesterfox]

Considering that 1.1 million allied troops had died by then. I think it's a little harsh to differentiate between countries bravery at that point. All of the allied troops were making ground by autumn 1918 because the German troops were demoralised and starving.

All the troops, whatever their country and I do include the Germans and their allies in this, were brave and had to cope with horrendous things for their country. It is unfair to devalue any of them.

[flyergagne12]

no imn not saying they werent brake because they have more guts than i do

but towards the end of WW1 everybody was at a stalemate accept the canadians only because they were lead by a canadian general (finally)

and when they charged their artillery was firing right in front of them which worked amazingly

[littleleicesterfox]

The Canadians assault at Mons was very successful in the closing few days of the war, but advances were also being made by the British, the French and the US along the Meuse River. There were strong pockets of German resistance but mainly they were in retreat.

Don't get me wrong, the Canadians were very successful and were fighting very well but they weren't alone in their success :)

[xz707]

the canidesn were the story troops of the allies when the germans 1st used gas it was the candien who figuerd out how 2 filter it .  but i agree with you any one in taht war was brave

[Juicexlx]

Your argument is quite right about the bravery of any of the soldiers who fought that war, regardless of home country. That beeing said, you're wrong about the event. Vimy ridge wasn't fought in 1918. It's was in April 1917 and yes, it was the first breaktrough from the Allies. Every other fronts were in stalemate situations.

There's a series on Vimy posted on youtube by a user named Ge0rge0rwell. I suggest you take a look at it. It's quite interesting.

[ScientologyIsfalse]

I wish there were more shows and things like that on WW1, I've seen way too much of WW2.

[WhatWhatinmyBut]

Id have to say the battle for Vimy was an amazing feat for the canadian army but the number one battle that comes to my mind that fills me with pride and nationalism...Dieppe! NEVER FORGET

[supportAntiEmo]

The states have Numbers and Technology at their Disposal, Casualties in the War on Terror- 2,978 KIA

The Canadians have Training and International Support, Casualties in the War on Terror - 92 KIA

[Joebobzilla]

Owned.

[supportAntiEmo]

Heh, thanks

[WhatWhatinmyBut]

damn rights lol

[ILIKESMG]

Canada! Canada! Tony, fight hard and fight back!

[SGT4EVA]

Canada may have a small army, but that means we can focus more on each soldier and train them each to the max and make them super soldiers,(elite) canada has the worlds greatest snipers, infantry worlds most powerful tank, some of the best pilots and even american squads are taking in canadian snipers on missions GO CANADA!

[NobberjrProductions]

the canadian army isn't that small but oyu are right

[SGT4EVA]

lol you know what i mean, like small compared to other countrys like usa and china

[NobberjrProductions]

lol oh ya very

[SGT4EVA]

but still, USA invaded Canada three times, with a huge army, and they lost all 3 times, and we took over Washington D.C for a day, then left, and they never even came near ottawa

[NobberjrProductions]

yup the otherday i asked my dad if you think canada would win again aganst the USA and he said yes then i said if USA ever came close to invanding us Britan and france would be over here with in a blink of an eye

[SGT4EVA]

well, Canada may stand a chance, but it would be very very close,not to mention if the US pulled a stupid move like that, there is a lot of countrys who hate the US and would defintely back us up. just one, stupid move, and the US could be gone

[NobberjrProductions]

yup but i dont think it will happen

[SGT4EVA]

right now, china is the United states biggest threat

[NobberjrProductions]

ya. thats scary i don't wana mess with the chinnese

[nickkipguitar]

93 canadians held off 3000 americans in one battle lol

[SGT4EVA]

wut.... lmao are you serious? which battle was this?

[nickkipguitar]

it wasnt formal its in canadian history books it was an invasion by ex cival war soldiers so i guess you cant count it as a proper war with the guns back then they probaly left because they had more people so we had a bigger chance of hitting them with a bullet

[SGT4EVA]

oh... thx anyways :P

[budlong]

hahahahaha... are you serious? considering that we fought on the same side that's pretty amazing. i wonder how we did it. hahahahahaha...

[nickkipguitar]

it wasnt ww1 it was just random invasion in the 1800 by bored cival war soldiers

[budlong]

ok. so we're not in ww1 anymore. yeah we did fight each other in the 1800's quite a bit. even as far back as the mid 1700's i think. didn't the americans fight the british at fort louisburg and there were many battles in upper canada.

[WhatWhatinmyBut]

plus theres an unbelievable amount of guns out in the country..hell i owned one by the time i was ten haha

[CanOntMis21]

wen i read this in my history class i was so proud dat canadians were able to do this

[NobberjrProductions]

yes same here

[cluescrollvids]

@CanOntMis21 have you tits grown since then?