The Canadian 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th divisions on the Western Front of the Great War attacked and took Vimy Ridge from three German divisions. The Germans knew they were coming, thanks to a German-Canadian deserter. The Canadians, however, were well prepared having dug extensive underground tunnels they utilized on the day of the attack to destroy German positions and provide communication trenches. They stockpiled 1.6 million shells with a new contact fuse and trained extensively for how to assault the Germans.
The Prime Minster of Canada, The Prince of Wales and the President of France all gave speeches last week to commemorate the 3,598 dead honored at the Canadian monument at the site of the battle. Mark Steyn reviews the speeches and comments on what the battle meant to Canada and what WWI means to the world today.
i make a lot of fun of the canadians, threatening a salvation army invasion and takeover, commenting about them sitting on their south-facing porches drinking moosehead and molson while watching our every move and critiquing
it is tongue-in-cheek, knowing that they have been one our most counted-upon allies
godspeed canada, and thanks
Hopefully Canada can get someone to Make Canada Great Again
I enjoy this speech by a Canadian.
I disagree, Canada was not made a nation because of they horrendous casualties.
Any more than France was made a nation because of the guillotine.
LOL- threatening a Salvation Army invasion…
What is this Canada that you speak of? Is it a vegetable, mineral or animal?
It’s the bells and the buckets, the Salvation
Army are pure demons I tells yah!
Thanks for remembering the contributions of my former country. My granduncle lost a lung while serving in France with the Canadian Army due to enemy mustard gas. Never the same again; had a hard time pulling on and tying boots, let alone climbing stairs. God bless all our Allied soldiers in both world wars.
How did Canada get it’s name?
Somebody pulled letters out of a hat.
When he announced the ones that he pulled, he said…
C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?
I could never bring myself to reach in my pocket and pull out a few foqs for the Canadians. Oh, sure, if I’ve got them in hand when I pass the kettle, I’ll toss them in. But I can’t be bothered to go looking. It’s because they’re so much America’s younger sibling. They were mostly British, with an unhappy French enclave, sharing a continent wide border. The Americans had more people and space to experiment, and a head start. And watching, waiting their turn, the Canadians learned nothing. They saw what worked, what failed. And were at least as smart as the southerners, to know why. And the only stupid, unforced errors, they didn’t do, were the ones where everybody else learned the lesson, got it right, and then decided to run it into a tree. But the Canadians haven’t had their turn at the wheel, yet. They should be the most glittering city on a hill. Instead, meh.