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kilometres from Arras. It was held by the Germans and was the main target for
the assault.
The plan was for all four Canadian Divisions to attack on Easter Monday, April
9, in sequence (starting at 5:30 a.m.) along about four kilometres of the frontlines.
Despite the losses, on April 10 the 4th Division took . After three
more days of fighting, and after months of bloody battle by the French and British,
Vimy was finally in Allied hands.
At , fighting together for the first time, Canadians from coast to
coast had won a remarkable victory, and a victory the Allies desperately needed.
One in ten soldiers – 3,598 men – died. Seven thousand more were
wounded. The French called "Canada's Easter gift to the French." In
1922, France gave Canada 91 hectares at the top of . There Canadians
erected the Vimy Memorial. Its walls contain the names of the over 11,000 Canadians
who died in France during the First World War and have no known grave. |
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Lunch in the Trenches
Lunch time in the trenches. June, 1916.
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