Landmarks Event- Europe Part 1, #21 Till Dec 11th! - Canadian National Vimy Memorial

First a sincere apology for posting this late. My life has been…. complicated these past couple of weeks. That being said, if I have to post this a week late, it is extremely fitting that this is going up on Armistice day.

My puzzle events tend to be light-hearted, and I try to work in some humour in every puzzle event. That is not true with this event, as befits a war memorial. Vimy is hugely important in the history of Canadian identity. When Jeff first proposed the landmarks event, I suggested that a Canadian Steamgifter be recruited to write this landmark, but none stepped forward. So, despite not being a Canadian, I will try to do justice to this site.

From a population of under 8 million, some 619,000 Canadians enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force for service overseas. Sadly, more than 66,000 did not return home and another 172,000 were wounded. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers of the First World War killed or presumed dead in France who have no known grave.

The fact that Canada was automatically at war when Britain was at war in 1914 was unquestioned as from coast to coast, in a spirit of almost unbelievable unanimity, Canadians pledged support for Britain. With a regular army of only 3,110 men and a fledgling navy, Canada was ill-prepared to enter a world conflict. However, within two months the First Contingent, Canadian Expeditionary Force, was on its way to England in the largest convoy ever to cross the Atlantic. Also sailing in this convoy was a contingent from the still separate British self-governing colony of Newfoundland. A suggestion that Newfoundland's men should be incorporated into the Canadian Expeditionary Force had earlier been politely but firmly rejected. The Vimy Memorial is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside the country, the other being the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge became a Canadian national symbol of achievement and sacrifice. On Easter, April 9, 1917, under the cover of a deafening barrage of artillery, thousands of young men fought to claim the ridge. It marked the first time all four Canadian divisions, made up of volunteers from all over Canada, would fight together for a single cause.

“It is through their sacrifice that Canada became an independent signatory of the Treaty of Versailles,” Trudeau told the crowd. “And in that sense, Canada was born here.”

Germany had been fortifying the position, a strategic lookout above the Douai plain north of Arras, since 1914. France had suffered more than 100,000 casualties in vain attempts to punch a hole in the Western Front at Vimy. And now Canada -- a young country with no military history, months shy of its 50th birthday and with a rag-tag bunch of eager but amateur soldiers – was being asked to succeed where the French and British had failed.

The ground on which the Vimy Monument sits, as well as the surrounding 100 hectares of land, were given to Canada by France in 1922 in gratitude for sacrifices made by Canada in the First World War and for the victory achieved by Canadian troops in capturing Vimy Ridge in April 1917.

[Note: Collect the passcodes from the landmarks from this week to gain access to a train for week 5!
Schedule for complete event and access to weekly trains can be found HERE]

The puzzle starts here

View attached image.