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There are many cenotaphs in cities, towns and villages across the country that have been built to honour more than 116,000 Canadians who have died in war. On Remembrance Day, November eleventh, war veterans and other Canadians gather at them to remember the sailors, soldiers and airmen who did not live to come home.
It is surprising, though, that one of Canada's finest cenotaphs is thousands of kilometres from her shores. It stands at a place called Vimy Ridge and it honours one of the finest military achievements in Canadian history.
On April 9, 1917 - Easter Sunday - 100,000 Canadian soldiers, supported by 863 cannons, stormed and captured Vimy Ridge. It was one of the great victories of World War I.
The ridge was strongly defended by the Germans, who believed no army could take it. Just two years earlier the French Army had tried, and suffered more than 130,000 casualties.
Although the cost to our country was high - 3,600 dead and more than 7,000 wounded - many historians say this victory marked Canada's beginning as a nation. It was the first battle in which all units of the Canadian Army fought together, and their success was overwhelming. The country rejoiced, and felt new pride.
After the war the Canadian government decided the battle should always be remembered, and determined to build a monument at Vimy. The French government donated 250 acres at the top of the ridge, and the land became part of Canada forever, even though it is 6,000 kilometres away.
A Toronto sculptor named Walter Allward was chosen to design a monument, and work on it began in 1925. It wasn't completed until 1936, but it was worth the wait. Reaching forty metres into the French sky, the Vimy Memorial is made from 6,000 tons of stone imported from Yugoslavia. Resting on it are twenty figures that represent Canada's soldiers and the beliefs they died for. The memorial also recalls those Canadians who died in battle, but whose graves are unknown. Of the 66,000 Canadians who died during World War I, 18,000 were never properly buried; 11,285 of their names are chiselled into the Vimy Memorial. The remainder are inscribed on various other monuments.
When the memorial was finally completed, more than 6,000 Canadian veterans travelled to France for its unveiling on July 26, 1936. Airlines weren't flying regularly across the ocean then, so The Royal Canadian Legion rented ocean liners to take them. The voyage from Canada to France took eight days. They all stood proudly at Vimy Ridge when King Edward VIII unveiled the memorial to their fallen friends.
Few of these World War I veterans are still alive. This memorial in France will help us remember them, and the victory that helped make Canada a nation.
(Source: Royal Canadian Legion)
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