A long time ago ... so much has changed.
Posted on 04/11/2005 10:43:07 AM PDT by NorthOf45
Two veterans of First World War remember Vimy Ridge on anniversary
Gillian Livingston
Canadian Press
April 11, 2005
TORONTO (CP) - The maze of muddy trenches carved deep into the hills of Vimy Ridge are still etched in the memories of Clare Laking, a 106-year-old veteran of the First World War.
Although he did not see action in the decisive battle for the ridge in France that began 88 years ago on April 9, 1917, he saw the battleground months later and understood the immense challenge that Canadian soldiers faced that day - something he still remembers today.
"I could see what would have happened and the bravery the soldiers went through at that time," Laking said Friday.
"Vimy Ridge was one of the places where Canada came into its own. They saved the ridge when other troops couldn't get a footing at all in it. Canada made a showing at Vimy Ridge against other troops that had failed so often."
Laking and fellow First World War veteran Lloyd Clemett, 105, were in attendance at Sunnybrook Hospital's Veterans Residence on Friday as the Canadian government paid tribute to veterans by unveiling a poster entitled Honour that depicts the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.
The poster is the second in a series as Canada remembers the sacrifices of its soldiers in what has been declared the Year of the Veteran.
Laking and Clemett are two of the five surviving Canadian veterans of the First World War.
Laking said children today must be reminded of the wars of past generations through ceremonies and other events.
"We can do without war," he said. "If the powers that be would get together and reason things out between themselves, how much better we'll be than if we go to war to settle it."
Laking only started talking about the war in the last 10 years, never mentioning it to his family in the years after he returned home.
He prefers to gloss over the horrific events of the war, instead remembering the small moments of joy or laughter.
He recalled the happy and relieved faces of villagers liberated from German control. "That's the nice part," he said.
Laking, who was an artillery signaller during the war, recounted a time after his regiment captured a house that had been occupied by German soldiers. The Germans fled, leaving behind pots and pans and a full vegetable patch.
With vegetable stew on their minds, Laking and another soldier went upstairs to keep watch while another soldier began making dinner.
A shell suddenly landed on the house, demolishing the corner near the stove and vegetable patch. Laking crept down the stairs, fearing his friend was dead.
But after the dust settled, Laking's friend crawled out a basement window unharmed, and resumed preparing dinner.
The battle for Vimy Ridge is considered a defining moment for Canada, at the time a young country only 50 years old.
On April 9, 1917 - Easter Monday - four Canadian divisions, comprising soldiers from across the country, joined together in the pre-dawn light to begin their attack.
The Canadians battled an entrenched Germany army for three days to accomplish what the British and French had failed three times to do: take Vimy Ridge.
But the victory came with a heavy price - more than 10,000 casualties, including 3,600 dead.
In 1998, France recognized the contributions of Canadians during the First World War by awarding five veterans, including Laking and Clemett, the prestigious Legion of Honour. The Vimy Ridge memorial lists the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died in France during the war.
In addition to the unveiling of the poster Friday, the Vimy Ridge anniversary was also commemorated in events in Ottawa, Hamilton and Quebec City.
On Sunday in Winnipeg, Veterans Affairs Minister Albina Guarnieri and veterans will participate in a ceremony at the memorial to the 44th Battalion in Vimy Ridge Park.
Not many vets of that war still around.
Nope ... it'll be a strange feel when they are all gone.
A ping for the "Never Forget" file ...
A much different Canada during that era. Now the Canadian weenies take your guns and like France rufuse to participate in the Iraq war.
Thanks for the post, a relative was there - and survived the war.
"We can do without war," he said. "If the powers that be would get together and reason things out between themselves, how much better we'll be than if we go to war to settle it."
Proof positive that there must be something in the Canuckistan water that rots the brains of even the most meritorious Canucks.
I suspect the author threw that in.
I wouldn't be so quick to critique such a comment from a WWI vet who has been there and back. Are you saying that a world without war wouldn't be a better situation? I don't think he's saying that it could be that way ... just that it should be.
Ever been to the "Blood" reserves in Alberta...most males of "age" are signed up with the USMC in Iraq...Canadians are there...low key of course.
Do you really disagree with this statement, or do you just feel like bashing Canadians?
"We can do without war," he said. "If the powers that be would get together and reason things out between themselves, how much better we'll be than if we go to war to settle it."
"Do you really disagree with this statement, or do you just feel like bashing Canadians?"
I'd like this senile old fool to tell me how we negotiate with the likes of the mad Moslem murderers who've been raping and pillaging for 1500 years, right up to the suicide bombers in Palestine and the child murderers at that Russian school. His remarks strike me as being romantic nonsense, idiotic blather used by the cowardly peaceniks to avoid responsibility for defending the weak and defenseless among us, and should not have been uttered by someone who should know better.
Yes. An old man who saw the horrors of WWI trench warfare is a senile fool because he wistfully wishes that we lived in a world without war.
Yes, the world would be a terrible place if our leaders could actually resolve all disputes with rational negotiation.
Regarding the second picture, what are the pyramids in the distance?
It was at Vimy that Canadians fought for the first time as an independent force under its own command and proved their worth not only to the British Army, but to themselves and their countrymen.
Canadians went to war as part of the Empire, colonial troops in units raised to fight for the Empire.
They came home as Canadians.
"Canadians went to war as part of the Empire, colonial troops in units raised to fight for the Empire."
"They came home as Canadians."
Then, two generations later, they gave up any claim on freedom and, lemming-like, willingly implemented the worst aspects of Eurabian folly, including religious persecution, gay fetishism, UN idiocy, gun-grabbing, socialist economics, corrupt Liberal politics, welfare statism, mindless anti-Americanism, and, now, Sharia Law.
F*** Canuckistan!
Bless those who stood tall when the moment came. The rest doesn't matter.
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