Tuesday, April 9th marks the 102nd anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Whenever Vimy Ridge is mentioned, it's usually paired with the declaration that the 1917 battle was the “birth of a nation” or Canada's “coming of age.” Cloaked in so much mythos, very few Canadians know the precise details of what happened just outside Arras, France in April, 1917.
Before it became a hallowed word, Vimy Ridge meant many things to Canadians. Below, vignettes of some of the lesser known elements of Canada's most famous military engagement.
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