- published: 21 May 2016
- views: 28602
Coordinates: 50°22′44″N 2°46′26″E / 50.379°N 2.774°E / 50.379; 2.774
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought primarily as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps, of four divisions, against three divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle, which took place from 9 to 12 April 1917, was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French Nivelle Offensive.
The objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground along an escarpment at the northernmost end of the Arras Offensive. This would ensure that the southern flank could advance without suffering German enfilade fire. Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day of the attack. The town of Thélus fell during the second day of the attack, as did the crest of the ridge once the Canadian Corps overcame a salient of considerable German resistance. The final objective, a fortified knoll located outside the town of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to the Canadian Corps on 12 April. The German forces then retreated to the Oppy–Méricourt line.
Coordinates: 50°22′24″N 2°48′41″E / 50.3733°N 2.8114°E / 50.3733; 2.8114
Vimy (/ˈviːmi/ or /ˈvɪmi/; French pronunciation: [vimi]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
Vimy is a farming town, situated some 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Arras, at the junction of the D51 and the N17 roads. It is situated on the crest of Vimy Ridge, a prominent feature overlooking the Artois region.
The town was first mentioned in 1183 as Viniarcum and was the scene of much fighting during the fourteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among the French, English, Dutch and Spanish forces.
The ridge was the scene of fierce fighting in the First World War. Seized by the Germans in 1914, it was the subject of a French assault in 1915. In 1917 the Battle of Vimy Ridge took place southeast of Vimy and was an important battle of the First World War for Canadian military history. The town was practically destroyed during the fighting in the area.
Set on the highest point of Vimy Ridge is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, the largest of Canada's war monuments. In 1922, use of the land for the battlefield park which contains the memorial was granted, in perpetuity, by the French nation to the people of Canada in recognition of Canada's war efforts. 250 acres (100 ha) of the former Vimy Ridge battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park which surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches and craters, closed off for public safety.
Justin Pierre James Trudeau, MP (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician. He has represented the Montreal electoral division of Papineau in the Canadian House of Commons since 2008 as a member of the Liberal Party and currently serves as the party's critic for youth, post-secondary education, and amateur sport.
Trudeau is the eldest son of the late former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Sinclair Trudeau Kemper. His maternal grandfather, James Sinclair, was also a federal cabinet minister.
Trudeau was born on December 25, 1971, in Ottawa, Ontario. He was only the second child in Canadian history to be born when one of his parents was prime minister; the first was John A. Macdonald's youngest daughter Margaret Mary Macdonald, and Trudeau's younger brothers Alexandre (Sacha) (born December 25, 1973) and Michel (1975–98) were the third and fourth, respectively. Pierre and Margaret Trudeau separated in 1977, when Justin was six years old, and Pierre retired as prime minister in 1984. Of his mother and father's marriage, Trudeau said in 2009, "They loved each other incredibly, passionately, completely. But there was 30 years between them and my mom never was an equal partner in what encompassed my father's life, his duty, his country."