Vimy Ridge (24 Nov)

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial on Vimy Ridge is also a museum.  Here they have preserved the trenches, tunnels, dugouts and craters from the Battle in April 1917.  It is an eye opener to see the tunnels and trenches, and shocking to note that in some cases the two armies were entrenched just 25 metres apart from each other.  This meant that for the men in the trenches on either side they were exposed and vulnerable to grenades and pistol fire, let alone shelling etc.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge took just 4 days and formed part of the Front Line attack that included the Battle of Arras that I mentioned previously.

For those that are interested......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge

These tunnels were used for the transport or troops and equipment for the 'surprise attack'

Although now in concrete, these were the actual trenches....

This German Bunker is just 25 metres away from the Canadian trenches

This is a photo taken from the Canadian trench looking towards the bunker above

This crater is all that separates the the two sides.......

The memorial was built in 1936

The sculptures are very 'gentle' and elegant I think.....