Vimy Ridge

[Macman]

Thank you for that, Robin. The monument has recently been repaired and restored, and it is wonderful to see some recent pictures of it. My Grandad fought at Vimy with the 31st Alberta Overseas Battalion, and I appreciate you posting the pics.

[Colin]

Thanks for that Robin. With the anniversary recently past, that was nice to see.

[Erisianmonkey]

I'm not Canadian, but I appreciate it as well. A beautiful monument to those who placed themselves "between their beloved home and the war's desolation."

[The Supreme Canuck]

They've certainly done a good job restoring it. Robin: did you get a picture of the "Canada" statue? I think it's the most touching part of the memorial.

[Robin]

Sadly these are all the pictures I took, the camera battery ran out of juice and I forgot to bring a spare

Yes...the monument was recently restored and they did a great job!
To replace weathered and damaged stones the closed quarry in Croatia where the original stones came from was reopened for this project.

The landscape around the monument was left untouched after the Great War...craters in craters in craters in craters...still closed to the public, a terrifying testimony of incredible suffering.

[SnakeEyes]

Very nice. Canada was practically born on Vimy Ridge, so this monument is a very important piece of our history. It's kind of a weird thought, that there's only one WWI vet still living in Canada. What will we do when there's no one left who remembers? I guess that's why we say "Lest We Forget". Anyways, enough rambling... great pics!

[Sheep In Wolf's Clothing]

Thanks for the pictures, they were great.
I watched the rededication on T.V, and I was amazed by the scale of the monument. Your pictures just reinforced to me the size.

The Canadian War Museum has a history of the sculptures here:
http://www.civilisations.ca/cwm/vimy/sculptures_e.html

It's a neat site to poke around. There is a very interesting propaganda poster section. I can't remember if any of the posters had any kilted soldiers in them.

Thanks again for the pictures.
Sara

[macwilkin]

Robin's post about Vimy Ridge reminded of a couple of other WWI memorials:

http://www.nww1.org/ -- The Liberty Memorial in Kansas City -- a "must see" for any student of the Great War. The Liberty Memorial is the only American national WWI monument. Those of you who saw the old TV movie "The Day After", about the effects of a nuclear war on KC and Lawrence, KS, might remember the memorial being featured in several scenes.

I have been to the Liberty Memorial serval times and it is well worth seeing -- the view from the top is breath-taking (and I am deathly afraid of heights, but I made myself go) and the museum is very good. This is America's closest thing to the IWM.

The museum below the memorial was recently re-opened after years of renovation work; one of the most sombering displays is a field of 9,000 poppies (a la "In Flander's Fields"), which represent 1000 combat deaths each.

http://likeyoudo.org.uk/gwmc/ -- Hearts F.C. Monument -- honouring the members of the 15th & 16th Battalions of the Royal Scots. The 16th Battalion, "Macrae's Battalion", was made up largely of footballers from the Heart of Midlothian FC in Edinburgh. Ther is a fascinating book by Alexander Smith entitled "Macrae's Battalion" that tells the story of this remarkable unit.

Lest we forget.

Todd

[David Dalglish]

When you read all the name's of the young men who died, it just shows the full horror of war.

[Pour1Malt]

whit nay kilts in the piccies?

where were ya hidin' Robin?