It’s a day to celebrate the birth of our nation.

Today, April 9th, is Vimy Day, and 102 years since Canadian soldiers took Vimy Ridge in France during World War One.

 

Christopher Sweeney is the Chair of the Vimy Foundation and says that on this day in 1917 Canadian soldiers were 100,000 strong.

“We advanced on a snowy Sunday Easter morning, and we were charged with taking a German defense position which seemed impregnable and Canadians were assigned it, and they were able to achieve the unachievable and took the ridge, with, by the standards of today, relatively minor losses,” Sweeney explained to Zoomer Radio/Classical FM News.

Almost 4000 Canadian soldiers were killed over the three days, in what remains Canada’s bloodiest battle.

Sweeney says as a result of Vimy, Canadians looked at themselves differently and the world looked at us differently.

We Canadians are encouraged to wear the Vimy pin every April 9th, as we wear poppies every November 11th on Remembrance Day.

You’ll find more information online at on the Vimy Foundation website.