FOCUS
THE CANADIAN
NATIONAL
VIMY MEMORIAL
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
VIMY 1917-2017, LENS-LIÉVIN REMEMBERS
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a powerful landmark for our area. Like a
beacon, it towers over the Lens plain with its two columns. An emotional symbol
and a symbol of Liberty, for Canadians it is also the symbol of the birth of their
Nation.
1EDITORIAL
REMEMBRANCE TOURISM, A LOCAL DRAW
3 LOCATION MAP
7 THE CAPTURE OF VIMY RIDGE BY THE CANADIAN
CORPS IN APRIL 1917
The Lens-Liévin Conurbation Committee is pursuing an ambitious policy of promoting the area. Remembrance tourism, an essential aspect of the area’s appeal,
is part of this. The policy provides vital support for the achievement of further
recognition for the area by 2018 under French and Belgian plans to have the area’s
First World War cemeteries and memorials included on the prestigious list of
UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The sites in question include our major memorials: Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, the Canadian National
Vimy Memorial and the Dud Corner Cemetery/Loos Memorial at Loos-en-Gohelle.
11 MONUMENT AND MEMORIAL SITE
CANADA, 2017 COUNTRY OF THE YEAR
4CHRONOLOGY
5 BATTLES OF MAY 1915
For the commemorations of the centenary of the capture of Vimy Ridge by
the Canadian Corps from 9 to 12 April 1917, the Lens-Liévin Conurbation
Committee wanted to honour the Vimy Ridge site by publishing this brochure. This initiative is part of wider commemorations of the centenary of
the Great War, beginning with the construction of the Ring of Remembrance
on the hill at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in 2014, and continued with the opening
of the Lens’14-18 Centre for the History of War and Peace in Souchez in 2015.
The Lens-Liévin Conurbation Committee is proud to be helping to host the thousands of visitors expected for these commemorations. Remembrance is everyone’s business. We need to keep this memory alive if we are to pass history on
to future generations. Remembrance and awareness of the issues associated with
it play a decisive role in defining citizenship today and forming the citizens of
tomorrow. As long as men and women strive to keep the soldiers’ memory alive,
the Nation can keep remembering. The Lens-Liévin Conurbation Committee is
also looking to the future. It wants to be actively engaged in the transition it is
experiencing, like Canada a century earlier when it achieved the birth of a great
nation.
15 VIMY, SYMBOL OF A NATION
Sylvain Robert
President of the Lens-Liévin Conurbation Committee
Layout
Janine Vandamme-Schlimpert
based on DES SIGNES
studio Muchir Desclouds 2015
Front cover credits
Canadian National Vimy Memorial
© Recreate – Autour du Louvre-Lens
Printing
Imprimerie La Centrale Lens
Bully-les-Mines
Lens
N
LOCATION MAP
Liévin
Aix-Noulette
Y
To CH
N
VE
GI
Éleu-dit-Leauwette
P
1
2
Angres
15
TE
GA
13
14
3
Avion
P
4
Ablain-Saint-Nazaire
N
10
S
AR
DM ER
OA RAT
BR C
Givenchy-en-Gohelle
H
Souchez
11
7
9
8
1
2
Vimy
4
6
5
To VIMY
& THELUS
P
Carency
3
ST
A
VA
To ST
E
E
BEECH AVENU
12
ILL
5
UV
NE
6
17 18
Farbus
Neuville-Saint-Vaast
Mont-Saint-Éloi
Thélus
16
Écurie
3 Km
Canadian National Monument
Moroccan Division Monument
Canadian Cemetery No 2
Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery
Undergrounds and restored trenches
Visitor education centre
7 Givenchy-en-Gohelle Canadian Cemetery
8 Zouave Valley Cemetery
9 Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery
10 Sucrerie Cemetery
11 La Chaudière Military Cemetery
12 Petit-Vimy British Cemetery
Roclincourt
2
1,5
1
2
3
4
5
6
COMMONWEALTH CEMETERIES
Marœuil
0
COMMEMORATIVE SITE OF CANADIAN
NATIONAL VIMY MEMORIAL
Sainte-Catherine
Saint-Laurent-Blangy
MAJOR REMEMBRANCE SITES NEARBY
13 National Necropolis of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette
14 Ring of Remembrance
15 Lens’14-18 –
Centre for the History of War and Peace
16 German Military Cemetery La Maison Blanche
17 Memorial to the Nazdar Company
and Czech cemetery
18 Monument to the Polish volunteers
Map : IGN AdminExpress 2016
© OpenStreetMap contributors,
and the GIS user community.
Memorial site map :
© Veterans Affairs Canada.
3
CHRONOLOGY
BATTLES
OF MAY 1915
VIMY RIDGE,
A STRATEGIC POSITION
1 AUGUST 1914
General mobilisation in France.
Germany declares war on France.
SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 1914
MARCH – APRIL 1917
3 AUGUST 1914
Battle of the Marne. Race to the Sea.
On 4-5 October, the Germans take up positions
in the Lens sector on the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette
plateau and Vimy Ridge.
AUTUMN – WINTER 1914
First Battle of Artois
9 MAY – 24 JUNE 1915
Second Battle of Artois
First large-scale attempt by French troops
to retake the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette
and Vimy Ridge. An assault is simultaneously
launched in front of Loos-en-Gohelle, north of
Lens, as a diversionary tactic.
The Notre-Dame-de-Lorette plateau is retaken by
the French army.
25 SEPTEMBER – 19 OCTOBER 1915
Third Battle of Artois
Second attempt by the French army to recapture
Vimy Ridge and break through the Souchez gap.
Supporting attack by the British north of Lens.
4
1916
The French army concentrates on the front in eastern France (Battles of Verdun and the Somme).
The British army is asked to look after the front
in Nord and Pas-de-Calais.
Faced with the threat of an Allied offensive,
the Germans pull back to the Hindenburg Line,
carrying out mass evacuations to Belgium of civilians still living in the Lens-Liévin area.
9 APRIL – 15 MAY 1917
Battle of Arras/Vimy
Vast operation launched under British command
in Artois.
Capture of Vimy Ridge by Canadian troops.
15 – 25 AUGUST 1917
Battle of Hill 70
The Canadians capture Hill 70, north of Lens.
Lens itself remains in German hands.
10 – 12 OCTOBER 1918
Liberation of the Lens-Liévin sector.
11 NOVEMBER 1918
Armistice.
With the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Vimy
ridge forms a salient separating the Lens plain to
the north from the Arras plain to the south. The
ridge itself is 6 km long and runs from north-west
to south-east. Its highest point stands at an altitude of 145 m whereas Notre-Dame-de-Lorette
is 165 m high.
Both promontories were militarily strategic
because of their height, and were occupied from
October 1914 by the German army, which built
a large network of trenches there. For months
on end the French army tried to recapture the
positions but without success, until the Second
Battle of Artois planned at the initiative of
General Joffre in May 1915.
THE GERMAN FRONT IS
BREACHED!
The assault in this major offensive was launched
at 6 am on 9 May after intense bombardment of
the German lines. As the soldiers of the 21st Army
Corps commanded by General Maistre made for
the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, the 33rd Army
Corps led by General Pétain attacked NeuvilleSaint-Vaast and Vimy ridge. The Moroccan
Division made remarkable gains and reached
Hill 140, almost at the summit of the ridge, in
record time.
But the French high command, surprised by
this unexpected advance, was slow to bring
in the necessary reinforcements. Without sufficient backup, the soldiers in the Moroccan
Division were eventually forced to pull back
and were decimated. By the end of the battle,
on 24 June 1915, the French had recaptured the
hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, but Vimy ridge
remained in German hands.
ACCOUNT
OF BLAISE CENDRARS
The writer Blaise Cendrars (real name FrédéricLouis Sauser), who was Swiss, enlisted in the
French army as a volunteer, joining the Foreign
Legion. He was wounded in September 2015 and
his right arm was amputated. His military service
earned him French citizenship in 1916.
Blaise Cendrars took part in the fighting in May
1915 at Vimy ridge, which he described in his
book La Main Coupée (The Severed Hand), published in 1946:
“We were just a handful of men, but we had got
through. At 12.15 pm on 9 May 1915 my squad
and I were on Vimy ridge with a load of other
brave men, in all two to three hundred men, all
lost like us: we had pushed forward, jumping four
rows of German trenches, without firing a single
shot, and the front was breached!
But the commanders who had mounted the
offensive and had made us sew squares of white
sheet on our backs so they could monitor our
progress through telescopes [...], those commanders didn’t believe we would breach the front, so
when we reached Vimy Ridge [...] with our white
squares on our backs, we were a fantastic target
for our own 75 mm field guns and, as soon as
we moved, for the German 77s and the big black
Austrian guns that were smashing us up, not to
mention the Germans we had passed who could
aim at our backs much more easily.”
5
1. Monument to the
Moroccan Division
© CALL
2. Portrait of Blaise Cendrars
© Le web pédagogique
1
THE MONUMENT
TO THE MOROCCAN DIVISION
In 1924, former soldiers from the Moroccan
Division decided to erect a monument on Vimy
ridge in memory of their missing comrades. This
initiative was supported by Marshall Pétain and
Marshall Lyautey, who became the honorary
chairmen of the committee set up to manage
the project. The stone monument, opened on 14
June 1925, was sombrely decorated with bronze
laurel branches. The Division’s motto, “Sans
peur, sans pitié” (Without fear, without pity), is
mentioned in the introductory text of the dedication. On the sides are engraved the dates and
names of the places where the Division fought
during the War. Seven bronze plaques listing the
different regiments in the Division were added
later on at the base of the monument.
Nearby, in Neuville-Saint-Vaast, there are two
other monuments that pay tribute to the foreign
soldiers who fought alongside the French Army
in the fighting in May 1915: the memorial to the
Nazdar Company, erected in 1925 in a small
Czech cemetery, and the monument to the Polish
volunteers, erected just opposite in 1929.
6
THE CAPTURE OF VIMY
RIDGE BY THE CANADIAN
CORPS IN APRIL 1917
2
SOLDIERS OF MANY NATIONALITIES
Despite its name, there were no Moroccan soldiers in the Moroccan Division. It was in fact
made up of fighters of many different origins:
Zouaves and riflemen from Algeria, Tunisia and
Senegal, as well as legionaries (Poles, Czechs,
Greeks, etc.). In total nearly fifty nationalities
were represented in the unit.
It was formed in Morocco by General Hubert
Lyautey (hence its name) and was transferred
to Bordeaux in August 1914. It won its reputation particularly at the Battle of the Marne in
September 1914, before being sent to Artois. The
Moroccan Division was the most decorated unit
in the French Army during the First World War.
Following the fighting in May, the French Army
made a new attempt to capture Vimy ridge in
September 1915, but its only significant gain was
the village of Souchez.
In 1916, the French troops were sent to Verdun.
The British were asked to ensure the defence of
the Artois front.
THE BATTLE OF ARRAS/VIMY
The French and British high commands decided
to plan a major new operation for the spring of
1917, the famous Battle of Arras, to take place
at the same time as the French offensive at the
Chemin des Dames in Aisne.
General Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief
of the British Expeditionary Force, mobilised
around twenty divisions on a front stretching
from Notre-Dame-de-Lorette to Croisilles, a
village approximately 10 km south of Arras.
The Vimy ridge sector was handed over to the
Canadian troops commanded by General Julian
Byng.
EXTENSIVE PREPARATIONS
Throughout the winter of 1916, the troops made
painstaking preparations for the battle: bringing
in artillery, carrying out reinforcement works on
their positions, physical fitness training, conducting reconnaissance raids to identify the location
of the enemy lines, etc. Pushing their preparations to the extreme, the British recreated the
networks of trenches behind the lines in order
to practise under real conditions. They also built
what was effectively an underground city in the
chalk quarries under Arras, in order to operate
without being seen and to take the German army
by surprise. Everything was provided: the underground bunkers even had electricity and piped
water. A railway system was built to bring in food,
munitions and all the necessary equipment. First
aid posts were set up, along with communication
centres. This remarkable logistical deployment
proved decisive to the course of the battle.
Finally, in a move that was practically unheard
of in the history of military operations, every man
received a map of the front showing precisely the
targets to be reached—the Black Line, the Blue
Line and the Brown Line—which were the different German lines of defence (the front line, the
fortified backup line a few hundred metres back,
and a final line approximately 6 km away).
7
1
2
1. Bombardment prior to
the assault on Vimy ridge,
April 1917
© Alain Jacques document
collection.
2. Canadian machine-gunners
on Vimy ridge, 9 April 1917
© IWM
AN UNPRECEDENTED ARTILLERY
DEPLOYMENT
In addition to the care taken with the preparations, the British commanders were counting on
heavy use of artillery. From 20 March, the German
lines were the target of regular bombardments,
which intensified from 2 April.
1
The Canadian Corps had 245 heavy guns and
the backup of 86 heavy batteries (particularly of
cannons provided by the Royal Navy). This was
complemented by 480 18-pounder guns (the
equivalent of the French 75 mm gun) and 138
4.5-inch howitzers (the equivalent of the French
114 mm gun). The guns were distributed every
15 to 20 m along the front.
1. Map showing the
progress of the Canadian
divisions on Vimy Ridge,
9 – 12 April 1917
© Richard Laughton
Julian Byng planned to use the ‘creeping barrage’ technique, which consisted of aiming 10
to 15 m beyond its own lines while advancing
little by little towards the enemy lines, in order
to protect the advancing infantry. This perfectly
timed approach required such precision that
General Byng gave his men an instruction that
has never been forgotten: “Chaps, you shall go
over exactly like a railroad train, on time, or you
shall be annihilated”.
2. Richard Jack,
The Taking of Vimy Ridge,
Easter Monday 1917
© MCG 19710261-0160,
Beaverbrook Collection
of war art, Canadian War
Museum.
2
8
Nearly a million shells of all calibres were sent to
Vimy ridge, i.e. 50,000 tonnes of steel and other
metals.
THE COURSE OF THE BATTLE
The assault began at 5.30 am on 9 April 1917
in appalling weather. It was snowing on that
Easter Monday and the ground turned to mud.
The four Canadian divisions attacked frontwards
along the whole ridge. They were backed up by a
division of the British First Army, which had been
tasked with taking the ‘Pimple’, a promontory
north of the ridge on the slopes of Givenchy-enGohelle (Hill 120). The assault on this position
was to begin 24 hours after the start of the main
attack.
The German trenches were defended by two
divisions: the 16th Bavarian Division and the 79th
Reserve Division. This apparent numerical inferiority was made up for by the German army’s
ability to mobilise significant reinforcements.
At midday, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions achieved their objectives and captured their part
of the ridge. However, the 4th Division ran into
serious difficulties at Hill 145. Being the highest
point along the ridge, this position was robustly
defended by fire from German machine-gunners
and the protective fire from the famous ‘Pimple’.
Through sheer determination, the ridge was entirely recaptured on 10 April, and the Canadian
soldiers saw stretching out beneath them the
Lens plain to which the German artillery had
retreated. It took a further two days of fighting
to capture the ‘Pimple’.
9
1. Canadian soldiers
and German prisoners
transporting the wounded,
April 1917
© IWM
2. Portrait of Julian Byng
© Wikimedia commons
1
THE OUTCOME OF THE BATTLE
The losses were severe. Out of a contingent
of 30,000 Canadians, 10,602 fell in the battle
and 3,598 of them died. On the German side,
20,000 died and 4,000 were taken prisoner.
The exploit took everyone by surprise, including
the Canadian commanders. Fighting continued
for a few more days, particularly in the ruins of
Liévin and Angres, but without sufficient reinforcements the Canadians were unable to liberate
Lens. The Front stabilised again until the final
battles of 1918 and the Germans did not set foot
on Vimy ridge again until the end of the war.
The Canadian victory was due to numerical
superiority but also, above all, to impeccable
preparation.
Four soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross,
the highest military distinction of the British
Empire: Private William Milne (killed in battle), Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton (killed in battle), Captain Thain MacDowell (who captured
75 German soldiers with two of his men) and
Private John Pattison (killed in June 1917 in the
La Coulotte sector at Avion).
10
MONUMENT
AND MEMORIAL SITE
2
JULIAN HEDWORTH GEORGE BYNG
(1862-1935)
Julian Byng, who was British, began his military
career in 1879. Most notably he took part in the
campaigns in Sudan and the Second Boer War.
In the First World War, he commanded the
Cavalry Corps followed by the 9th Corps of the
British Army (Battle of the Dardanelles).
Byng was appointed commander of the Canadian
Corps in May 1916, and worked to make his
troops a genuine strike force, putting an emphasis on physical fitness and tactical ingenuity.
Two months after the success at Vimy ridge, he
was promoted to the post of Commander of the
3rd British Army. He led the Battle of Cambrai in
1917 and played a key role in the decisive battles
at the end of 1918. Byng recommended Arthur
Currie, his subordinate officer at Vimy, to replace
him as commander of the Canadian Corps.
Julian Byng was well loved by his men, who gave
themselves the nickname of the ‘Byng Boys’. At
the commemorations of the 90th anniversary
of the Battle of Arras in April 2007, the village
of Givenchy-en-Gohelle has decided to name
the square opposite the village church after the
‘Byng Boys’.
ORIGIN OF THE MONUMENT
At the end of the First World War Canada, like
other nations, wanted to pay permanent tribute
to all of its soldiers who were killed or missing
in action. In 1920, the Imperial War Graves
Commission selected eight sites in Europe—five
in France and three in Belgium—for the erection
of memorials.
A competition was launched to choose an
architect to design them. Out of the 160 entries
received, the Commission selected 17 projects,
the designers of which had to produce a model.
Walter Seymour Allward won first prize. Frederick
Chapman Clemesha came second.
Originally the winning project was to be reproduced on the eight European sites, but the
scale of Allward’s monument prompted the
Commission to abandon that idea. It decided
to have a main memorial, designed by Allward,
built on Vimy ridge, which was considered to
be the most appropriate location symbolically
for such a grandiose project. The monument
proposed by Clemesha was built at Saint-Julien
(Belgium). Six smaller memorials were erected
at the other sites.
In 1922, in recognition of the Canadians’ sacrifice, France gave an area of around 100 hectares overlooking the Lens plain in perpetuity
to Canada, to build the monument at the heart
of a site encompassing Givenchy-en-Gohelle,
Neuville-Saint-Vaast, Thélus and Vimy.
CONSTRUCTION
For 2 years, Allward searched for the ideal stone
for the monument’s construction. In the end he
chose a particularly hard white limestone from
a quarry in Yugoslavia (now Croatia). He worked
with Oscar Faber, a Danish engineer, to supervise
the construction of the structure from reinforced
concrete.
The work began in 1925. Earthworks, clearance
of explosive ordnance, excavation, laying of the
foundations, stone masonry—it was a colossal
construction task. It took 11 years to build the
memorial from 11,000 tonnes of concrete and
6,000 tonnes of stone. The statues were carved
on site by stone masons, based on 1:2-scale
plaster models made by Allward at his London
studio. The total cost was 1.5 million dollars.
TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR
COUNTRYMEN...
The monument was dedicated to the
66,000 Canadians killed or missing in action. The
names of 11,285 soldiers with no known grave
were carved on the sides of the pedestal.
Twenty allegorical figures forming a powerful,
coherent tableau were added to the monument’s
two pillars symbolising France and Canada.
Allward managed to express in the work the feelings of a nation about its countrymen’s sacrifice
and the values of peace and freedom proclaimed
loud and clear by that nation. (see p. 17).
11
1
2
4
3
1. Models made for the
competition launched by
the War Graves Commission
© Veterans Affairs Canada
2. Stonemasons carving
the names of the missing
on the monument
© Veterans Affairs Canada
3. The monument during
construction
© Veterans Affairs Canada
4. Statue of the Male Mourner
© Edouard Roose
5. Walter Seymour Allward
in front of the model of the
monument
© Veterans Affairs Canada
12
5
The monument stands within a site in which the
ground still bears the scars of shell and mine
explosions. Austrian pines were planted after
the war to create special viewpoints towards
significant sites such as the towers of the former
abbey at Mont-Saint-Eloi and the French cemetery at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. Some of the
trenches were preserved at the behest of the site
foreman, Major Simson. Two military cemeteries
were included in the grounds of the memorial
site: Canadian Cemetery No 2 and the Givenchy
Road Canadian Cemetery.
OFFICIAL OPENING
The monument was opened on 26 July 1936 by
King Edward VIII and French President Albert
Lebrun. More than 50,000 people attended
the opening ceremony: dignitaries from every
country, Canadian troops, local residents and
a large number of Canadian citizens. A major
transport operation was organised for the occasion: five transatlantic vessels were chartered to
bring nearly 6,400 Canadians from Canada and
1,365 Canadians from the United Kingdom.
During the Second World War, the site was in
occupied territory. Rumours of its destruction by the Germans circulated in the UK and
Canada. However, the German government
issued denials. Adolf Hitler, who had fought in
the sector during the First World War, visited the
site in 1940.
WALTER SEYMOUR ALLWARD
(1876-1955)
A sculptor from Toronto and a member of the
Canadian Royal Academy of Arts from 1918,
Allward began his career as a draughtsman
at a firm of architects, followed by a stint at a
brickworks where he designed decorative motifs.
His first significant work was the figure of Peace
designed for the Northwest Rebellion Monument
in Queen’s Park, Toronto, in 1894 – 1895.
He received many commissions for busts from
the provincial museum in Toronto, and gradually
specialised in heroic or allegorical representations, which became his preferred area of work.
His best known works are the Boer War Memorial
Fountain in Windsor (Ontario) in 1906, the
South African War Memorial in Toronto in 1910,
the memorial to Alexander Graham Bell in
Brantford (Ontario) in 1917, and the memorial
to King Edward VII in Ottawa, which was only
partially completed due to the outbreak of the
First World War.
After the war, he designed several memorials to
the dead, including one in Stratford (Ontario)
in 1922 and one in Peterborough (Ontario) in
1929. His most important work remains the
Vimy Memorial, which earned him the nickname
‘Allward of Vimy’.
13
1. The preserved trenches
© Matthieu Brard
VIMY,
SYMBOL OF A NATION
2. Statue of Canada
in mourning
© Yannick Cadart, CD62
3. Official unveiling of the
monument on 26 July 1936
© Veterans Affairs Canada
1
2
3
In the First World War, the Dominion* of Canada,
which at the time had a population of 8 million,
sent more than 600,000 men to the Front. For the
first time, individuals from all of the country’s
provinces came together at ‘national’ level. The
esprit de corps engendered by the experience
of the trenches produced a very strong sense of
patriotism in all of the soldiers.
For this reason, Vimy gradually became an
important symbol of Canada’s history.
Although the Canadians had a number of brilliant successes in battle, notably at the Somme in
1916 and in the Arras and Canal du Nord sectors
in 1918, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which was recognised militarily as a complete success, was particularly important because it was the first time
since the start of the war that the four Canadian
divisions had fought together as a distinct army
corps.
Because of its dominant position, Vimy ridge was
chosen for the site of the main—and the largest—
memorial to Canadian soldiers who had died at
the front.
The official opening of the monument in 1936
lodged the Battle of Vimy Ridge permanently
in the Canadian collective memory as the key
moment when Canada proved itself on the world
stage and set off on the road to independence,
which it gained in 1931. Many streets and town
squares in Canada today bear the name ‘Vimy’, as
does the Canadian War Museum in Vimy Square,
Ottawa.
*name given to former colonies of the British Empire, which
gradually became self-governing countries and members of the
Commonwealth
14
THE VIMY FOUNDATION
The Vimy Foundation was founded in 2006 to
protect and promote Canada’s First World War
heritage, particularly related to the Battle of Vimy
Ridge. It mainly works with the younger generations through educational initiatives (overseas
travel, bursaries for young people from Canada,
France and Britain aged between 15 and 17 years,
distribution of publications to libraries, etc.).
It also organises fundraising events to finance
initiatives. In particular, it contributed 50% to
the construction budget of the Visitor Education
Centre, initiated by the Canadian government
on the occasion of the centenary of the Battle
of Vimy Ridge.
THE SITE TODAY
The site is managed by the Canadian government
via the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, and is open all
year. In addition to the monument itself, visitors
can explore some of the trenches and bunkers
used during the battle.
Unveiled on 9 April 2017, the Visitor Education
Centre enables members of the public to gain a
better understanding of the contribution made
by Canada and Newfoundland during the First
World War, enhances the visitor experience of
Canadian National Vimy Memorial and explains
more about Canada’s commitment to pay permanent tribute to the sacrifice of those who
served their country.
Young student volunteers from all over Canada
are on hand to welcome the public to the site
from early February to late November. These
teams are replaced every four months, and can
also be found at the site of the Newfoundland
Memorial in Beaumont-Hamel, Somme.
15
Canadian National Vimy Memorial
Sculpture Guide
Front of Monument
Front of Monument
1. Faith
2. Faith
Hope
1.
3. Hope
The Torch Bearer
2.
4.
Sacrifice
3. The
Torch Bearer
5.
Breaking of the Sword
4. Sacrifice
5. Breaking of the Sword
1
6
12
67
2
7
3
8
34
89
4
9
6. Honour
7. Honour
Charity
6.
8. Charity
Figure of Canada
7.
9.
The Tomb
8. Figure
of Canada
10.
Sympathy
9. The
Tomb of Canadians
for the Helpless
10. Sympathy
of Canadians
for the Helpless
5
10
5
10
1
1. Canadian students
welcoming the public
at the site
© CALL
Rear of Monument
2. and 3. Visitor and
education centre opened
during the centenary
commemorations of the
battle in April 2017
© CALL
Rear of Monument
11. Peace
12. Peace
Knowledge
11.
13.
The Female Mourner
12. Knowledge
11
14
11
14
12
15
12
15
14. Justice
15. Justice
Truth
14.
16.
The Male Mourner
15. Truth
13. The Female Mourner
16. The Male Mourner
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Guide to the sculptures
at the Canadian National
Vimy Memorial
© Veterans Affairs Canada
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4Director of publication 5
Sylvain Robert, Président of the LensLiévin Cunurbation Committee (CALL)
Design and production
CALL / Service Pays d’art et d’histoire /
Laurence Pottier
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Publication made with the support
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of the Direction Régionale13
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EAN 9791095203087
Affaires Culturelles Hauts-de-France
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Acknowledgements
Matthieu Brard, Yannick Cadart (Conseil
Départemental du Pas-de-Calais),
Frédéric Cousin (CALL), Yann Cussey
(CALL), Laura Descamps (CALL),
Nicolas Dionet (CALL), Colette Dréan
(Direction Régionale des Affaires
Culturelles), Johanne Gagné (Anciens
Combattants Canada), Grégory Galvaire
(CALL), Aude Herbez (CALL), Marina
Hermant (Archives départementales
du Pas-de-Calais), Gilles Huchette
(Association Euralens), Imperial War
Museum, Florence Irigoyen (CALL),
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Alain Jacques (Service archéologique
Ville d’Arras), Amanda Kelly (Anciens
Combattants Canada), Greg Kenney
(Anciens Combattants Canada), Richard
Laughton, Dean MacDonald (Anciens
Combattants Canada), Emilie Nemeth
(Mission Louvre-Lens Tourisme), David
Pierru (CALL), Edouard Roose (Comité
Régional du Tourisme Hauts-de-France),
Susan Ross (Musée canadien de la
Guerre), Maxime Tempremant (CALL),
Nelly Turlutte (CALL), Pierre-Antoine
Vignolle et Lydie Hejnal
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«IT WAS CANADA FROM THE
ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC ON
PARADE. I THOUGHT THEN...
THAT IN THOSE FEW MINUTES
I WITNESSED THE BIRTH OF A
NATION.»
The words of Brigadier-General Alexander Ross, Commander of the 28th Battalion at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, several years after the battle
Focus on the Canadian National
Vimy Memorial
Route départementale 55
62580 Givenchy-en-Gohelle
GPS : N50.379444 ; E2.773611
+ 33 (0)3 21 50 68 68
[email protected]
www.veterans.gc.ca
Tuesday - Sunday: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Monday: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Guided tours every days except on
Monday
Closed from mid-December to late
January
Lens’ 14-18
Centre d’Histoire Guerre et Paix
102 rue Pasteur
62153 Souchez
Tél. : + 33 (0)3 21 74 83 15
[email protected]
www.lens1418.com
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission
www.cwgc.org
Remembrance Trails
Northern France
www.remembrancetrailsnorthernfrance.com
The territory of the Conurbation
of Lens-Liévin is part of the national
network of «Towns of Art and
History» and «Lands of Art and
History»
The Ministry of Culture and
Communication, Directorate-General
of Heritage, awards the Towns of Art
and History and Lands of Art and
History labels to local authorities who
develop a consistent project of heritage
enhancement and awareness-raising.
It guarantees the competence of the
architecture and heritage tour guides
and activity leaders, and the quality
of their actions. From ancient remains
to twentieth century architecture, the
Towns of Art and History and Lands of
Art and History present their heritage in
all its diversity. Today, a network of 186
Towns and Lands across France offer
you’re their expertise.
The Land of Art and History of LensLiévin promotes and enhances the
heritage, architecture and landscapes
of the 36 municipalities that make up
the Conurbation of Lens-Liévin. Year
round, it offers events and activities
for local people, visitors and students:
guided visits, exhibitions, art education
activities, educational workshops etc.
Nearby,
Beauvais, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Cambrai,
Chantilly, Laon, Lille, Noyon, Roubaix,
Saint-Quentin and Soissons have all
been awarded the Town of Art and
History; Amiens Métropole, Saint-Omer
and Senlis à Ermenonville hold the
Land of Art and History label.
For more information on the local
heritage and Land of Art and history
activities:
Communauté d’Agglomération
de Lens-Liévin
21 rue Marcel Sembat – BP 65
62302 Lens cedex
+33 (0)3 21 790 790
[email protected]
www.agglo-lenslievin.fr
To book a guided visit and for details
on its organisation:
Office de Tourisme et du Patrimoine
de Lens-Liévin
58 rue de la gare
62 300 Lens
+33 (0)3 21 67 66 66
[email protected]
www.tourisme-lenslievin.fr
In partnership with