Victory at Vimy, Canada Comes of Age: April 9-12, 1917
Thomas Allen Publishers
January 26, 2007
ISBN-10: 0-88762-253-4
From the author of JUNO: Canadians at D-Day, June 6, 1944, comes a new book about the Famous Canadian Victory at Vimy Ridge.
At the height of the First World War, on Easter Monday April 9, 1917, in early morning sleet, forty-nine battalions of the Canadian Corps rose along a nine-mile line of trenches in northern France against the occupying Germans. All four Canadian divisions advanced in a line behind a well-rehearsed creeping barrage of artillery fire. By nightfall, the Germans had suffered a major setback. The Ridge, which other Allied troops had assaulted previously and failed to take, was firmly in Canadian hands.
It was the first time Canadians had fought as a distinct national army, and in many ways it was a coming of age for the nation. Based on first-hand accounts, like JUNO: Canadians at D-Day, Ted Barris paints a compelling and surprising human picture of what it was like to have stormed and taken Vimy Ridge.
Praise for Ted Barris’s Victory at Vimy…
“Barris has gathered the best of these soldiers’ words to tell his story, often with breathtaking simplicity and grace … The accompanying maps, graphics and photographs are first-rate, making it easily the best book for those few Canadians who are completely unfamiliar with Vimy Ridge, and a must-read for the vast majority who have heard of the battle but know little about the details.” – National Post
“[Barris] lets the front-line soldiers tell their stories in a dazzling recreation of the battle … Here are the men … their letters, journals post-war interviews and other original source treasures carefully mined by Barris and seamlessly fused into one of the most poignant narratives ever written about the Great War.” – Calgary Herald
“Through a masterful use of oral histories, personal letters and memoirs … historian Ted Barris has created a fitting memorial to the ordinary Canadian soldiers, who fought 90 years ago in the War to End All Wars. Rarely have the thoughts and feelings of so many spoken so clearly through the widening mist of history.” – Winnipeg Free Press
“The book concentrates on relationships between boys who were originally strangers, but soon became comrades for life under the partnership system … Ted Barris has produced a magnificent account of the land battle at Vimy Ridge.” – Esprit de Corps
could you please send me some in formation re the trip to Vimy etc next Spring? Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks.
Hi, I just heard your interview with Peter Mansbridge talking about Vimy. I have wonder if any one has written about all of the nursing sister that were during that war? My cousin, Claire Gass, was there and I have read the book of her dairies. And when you described what it was like, and the women who drove the ambulance. Every year on Nov 11 the tributes, and the reading of John McRae’s poem, I think of Claire and others like and what it must have been like to see all of wounded. Someone needs to tell their story.
My grandfather, Sydney Cox, fought and was killed at Vimy on April 17, 1917. Having immigrated to Canada in 1914 to work in the wheat fields in Saskatchewan, he joined a Canadian army regiment from Saskatoon and fought for Canada. His wife and young family were still in England waiting to come to Canada and join him. However, he was killed, but they did come to Canada later. I would be interested in your trip to Vimy next spring, also.
Thank you for an explanation of Vimy. My grandfather was there with the Princess Pats. I was young when he passed and I never really understood the operation. He was lucky to get home and was given a position in the Fishery Dept.
This time of year I re-read Vimy by P Berton and the second re-read is this book by Mr Barris. When asked where to start to know about Vimy, I recommend these two fine books. Dr Cook has also added to this fine list.