Day 4
Vimy day is always an exciting day as we get to the monument. We were able to catch a glimpse of the
memorial on the way to Lille last evening. You can see it from quite a distance, but its not until you
are at the foot of this beautiful place that you really get an appreciation for
it. Prior to that however, we are
heading to Wellington Quarries in the town of Arras. This area is not so much dedicated to Canadians as it is to
the New Zealanders who dug these tunnels for the soldiers to live underground
and advance to the front lines.
The kids were a little confused by the explanation of the Battle of
Arras, because they often refer to the Vimy offensive as the Battle of
Arras. IN actual fact, the Battle
of Vimy Ridge was a part of the greater battle of Arras and was probably its
main objective. In a nutshell, the
Quarry was about 10km back from the Western front line and literally housed as
many as 24,000 soldiers underground during the First World War. It is about 60-70 feet below ground and
was transformed into a city during these times. Men lived down there, worked down there and also were
medically treated in the hospital that was located…you guessed it…down there!!! I apologize but I could only find this
French video, but in the end you will get the picture about what they
experienced.
From Wellington we head to the Memorial and will spend a few hours
here going through the trenches and tunnels and eventually up to the monument
where the kids will receive their pilgrimage medals. Today is always a great day to be a Canadian and I have had
the opportunity to visit here for a 5th time and my national pride
always shines through and we are starting to see this in the kids as well. For a change however, I wanted a
different perspective, Amanda thought I was just passing the buck on the blog,
but in all seriousness I am quite spoiled as a Canadian to have visited here so
many times. On that note I turn
over the reigns to Dave McNeill and try to get the perspective of a Vimy
rookie… |
| Looking out at trench system below Hill 145 where monument is located |
Thoughts on Vimy Ridge…
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| Students approaching Vimy for first time |
“I visited Vimy Ridge for the first time today; the size and beauty
of the monument was overwhelming. The names of the Canadian soldiers on the
monument go on and on. There are so many names. I found several McNeills
on the wall and wondered if they were a relation. I guess the experience raised
more questions than it provided answers. There are no answers really. I felt
very proud, I hope those feelings are appropriate. It leaves much to the
imagination, a beautiful park that was once such a terrifying place for such
young soldiers. It has inspired me to continue learning about Vimy and the
greater battle of Arras.” |
| Soldier's view from Canadian trenches |
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| Receiving the Vimy Foundation's pilgrimage medals |
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| TOSH |
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| The front of the monument |
Much of what Dave thought I remember feeling when I first came here
in 2006. You feel proud and sad at
the same time, you wonder what they went through on that day and you hope they
did not suffer, but in the end you realize that it is viewed as a turning point
in the First World War and in essence the birth of an entire nation, our
nation!!! Spot on Mr. McNeill!!!
From Vimy we are onto Ypres, Belgium and the Menin Gate
ceremony. Ypres may be one of my
favorite cities in the world. It
is quaint and enormous all at the same time…the Cloth Hall at the center of
town dominates the landscape and the great square is a wonderful place to see
masses of people especially on such a beautiful day…yes you heard that right,
after leaving Vimy the sun finally came out and it is warm. First time for everything and let’s
hope it stays that way!!
We let the kids wander around the square for a bit and there is a
concert/slash world marathon underway so they atmosphere is hopping. We also show the kids to the EF partner
Leonidas chocolate, so if you happened to put in a request for Belgian chocolate,
there should be plenty of it to go around when you see them next week!
We meet for another great meal!! Chicken, almost a whole chicken(almost superstore size)
for each one of us and French fries.
Ooops, forgot I cannot call them French Fries because we are in Belgian
and of course fries are a Belgian invention and not French!!! True story…I knew that from before but
always forget it until I get here!!!
After supper we head to the Menin Gate ceremony which is always
another highlight for me. It only
really sinks in when you spend a couple of days in Ypres, because if you are
only there for one night you only see the ceremony as a single ceremony. You really begin to understand when you
come back the very next night and the same size crowd shows up and all of the
reverence of remembering the dead is done all over again, in fact Every evening since 1928 the Last Post has been
played under the Menin Gate Memorial in Ieper at 8 o'clock sharp. This evening
the ceremony will take place for the 29932th time. Simply
amazing! Tonight we get the honor of being here
for the 100th anniversary of the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John
Macrae and we are also joined in the ceremony by the Canadian first lady
Laureen Harper. A
great way to end our day and be proud of who we are in the world!!! Great job by all the kids…I am
exhausted and need to grab some sleep because we have a big travel day as the road
show continues with a push into the Netherlands and a 6:30 breakfast!!! Take care all and I hope you enjoy the
reading!!!
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