www.ns.legion.ca 75 continued ... April 9, 1917 Vimy Ridge An honour guard member dressed in period uniform stands in front of the National War Memorial. Since the fall of 1916, the powerful Canadian Corps had been holding trenches facing Vimy Ridge. The 15-kilometre-long escarpment controlled the flat countryside around it, although the chalk ridge rose gradually to only a height of 147 metres. Three enemy divisions held the Vimy sector, with 10 battalions either in the front lines or immediate reserve at any one time. The Germans had created two strong defensive lines along the ridge: one that followed the forward slope and another farther back, mostly behind the crest. Further to the rear, a third line provided defence in depth. Between the trench lines several heavily fortified positions hid in villages, farms and woods. Canadian soldiers dug in at Vimy Ridge in 2017. (CP File) All together For the first time since the four divisions of the Canadian Corps had come together the previous fall, they would attack simultaneously. In early January, the Canadians began an intense period of preparations and rehearsals unequalled in previous attacks. Behind their front lines, the Canadians constructed detailed scale-models of German positions based on aerial photographs. On it, every unit from platoon to battalion rehearsed its role in the assault. Previously maps had only been given only to officers, but now ordinary soldiers received them. At the tactical level, the ideas of 1st Division commander Maj.-Gen. Arthur Currie were put into practice, the result of his discussions with British and French commanders. Battalions would no longer walk line abreast across no man’s land. Instead, sections and platoons would use their own firepower to work their way around enemy positions. Confidence and morale rose accordingly. The Canadian plan called for all four divisions to attack in four phases, based on the location of German positions and the ground to be covered. Four successive colour-coded lines — black, red, blue and brown — ran up and over the ridge from west to east. The four divisions, some 36,000 strong, were to assault on a frontage of about seven kilometres, to an average depth of around three kilometres. From north to south, the divisions were lined up in reverse numerical order — 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st. The leading infantry battalions moved forward to their assembly areas on the evening of April 8 — Easter Sunday — many using 13 tunnels painstakingly hacked into the chalk. All units were
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