New Developments
The lessons The Canadian Corps, and especially General Arthur Currie, had learned
at the Somme, Neuve-Chapelle and Ypres served them well at Vimy. So did the lectures
Currie took to heart and refined about the new tactical thinking the French had
used at Verdun. If the Somme was an object lesson in how sticking to old ways
of fighting resulted in disaster, Vimy Ridge proved how fresh thinking and a
willingness to trust frontline officers and soldiers with maps and tactics could
pay off.
Currie's faith in his engineers' ability to figure out new ways of pinpointing
German artillery also helped win the day. Previous attempts to knock out enemy
guns with massive artillery barrages had proven futile. But combining aerial
mapping with visual and acoustic triangulation allowed gunners to isolate and
take out 83 per cent of the Germany artillery.
Currie bet his career on Vimy and had to stand up to the skepticism of his British
superiors. Had his novel approach failed, it is most likely he would have been
sent home in disgrace. But the Canadian Corps didn't fail him.
Shrapnel bursting Even with the support of artillery, the fighting at
Vimy was savage and dangerous. Not all the German guns, especially those far
behind the lines, had been silenced.
