The Battle At Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Valley Forge was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. Although no actual military battle was waged here, George Washington’s Continental Army faced some physical and mental battles of their own in this Pennsylvania town. It was here at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where the Continental Army Soldiers of the Revolutionary War chose to go after being defeated in the Battle of Germantown in October 1777. During this winter, Washington’s troops came to this encampment to recuperate and train for future battles with the British. The winter of 1777-78 was terribly cold, bitter, and harsh. These conditions made things very difficult for General Washington’s military unit. The unit’s morale and physical strengths were severely tested throughout this challenging and historical time.

When Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier stated, “As the 19th century was that of the United States, so I think the 20th century shall be filled by Canada”, the decades that followed provided his statement to be true as Canada became an independent and strong nation. The battlefields in World War One were a defining moment for Canada as their forces fought as one nation for the first time, instead of under British Command. Also, at the end of the war, Canada was recognized at the Peace Conference and signed the Treaty of Versailles as an independent country. In addition, Canada joined the League of Nations, playing a major role in world politics. These events in the early 20th century allowed the beginning of a strong nation with a growing national

The first point of proof of this is how the Canadians helped with Somme. This battle is remembered because of the over 2.2 million soldiers killed, wounded, or missing over the full 2 battles (Christie, 1). Canadians (and Newfoundlanders) usually fought alongside the British and they helped take this land with their courage. This lasted from July 1st to November 18th (Gootz, 7-8). Canadians also played a big part in taking Ypres. This was the first ever battle where gas was introduced. It was brought by the Germans and swept the French trenches (Christie, 9). The French retreated and the Canadians had to hold down the trenches. Germans attacked when the gas cleared and the position was held by The Royal Highlanders from Montréal. Because of Canada’s selfishness, they helped win this battle. “We have shown that even in trench warfare it is possible to mystify and mislead the enemy.” -Sir Arthur Currie (World War 1). The most vital and important battle that gained Canada respect was The Battle of Vimy Ridge. Canada played the biggest part in taking this area since they fought alone. The British and French had already attempted to take this area, and although it was valiant they still lost. This put weight on Canada’s soldiers. On April 9th, 1917, 1000 guns opened fire on German positions. 15000 Canadians attacked the Germans and after four days and 10000 casualties, Canada single handedly took Vimy Ridge (Vimy Ridge, 1). This victory gained the nation immense respect from the rest of the world. All of these battles were greatly impacted by the Canadians and without some of them (Vimy Ridge in particular) Canada may not have gained any respect from other

The First Battle of Fort Sumter began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery fired on the Union garrison. These were the first shots of the war and continued all day, watched by many civilians in a celebratory spirit. The fort had been cut off from its supply line and surrendered the next day. The Second Battle of Fort Sumter (September 8, 1863) was a failed attempt by the Union to retake the fort, dogged by a rivalry between army and navy commanders. Although the fort was reduced to rubble, it remained in Confederate hands until it was evacuated as General Sherman marched through South Carolina in February 1865.

The battle of Fort Pillow was short but very tragic. Some people believe it is the most controversial event in the Civil War. It was fought at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning, Tennessee. The date was April 12, 1864. The south attacked the fort at around 4:00 pm. They overran the fort before dusk. More than 300 African Americans were killed. Some believed that they were helpless after surrendering and some believe that they were running. This had big effects on the war because the north thought that killing prisoners of war was wrong but the south thought it was law abiding. Both sides used this battle to justify the war.

The battle of Antietam was near Sharpsburg, Maryland and was on September 17, 1862. This battle was between the Union and Confederates, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was for the union and Robert E. Lee was for the Confederates. This battle was the single bloodiest day, there were around 25,00 casualties altogether from both the Union side and the Confederates side. A couple engagements of this battle were Battle of Harpers Ferry, during which a portion of the Confederate Army under General Stonewall Jackson captured the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry; and the Battle of South Mountain, which involved three pitched battles McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had to fight to pass through Blue Ridge Mountains to meet Lee’s forces. One of the areas

Fort Sumter was the first battle of the Civil War. This battle begun after South Carolina seceded from the Union. They believe that the Fort would be theirs. Lincoln ordered the troops not to fire, yet he provided them with food. Eventually, South Carolina took control of the fort, thus becoming the first Confederate victory.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge is Canada 's most celebrated military victory, it took place from April 9th 1917 to April 17th 1917. The Battle of Vimy Ridge took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais part of France. This was a part of World War I and was a smaller part of the Battle of Arras. The battle started at 5:30 A.M. The first wave had 20,000 soldiers each carrying 36 kilograms of equipment. 100,000 Canadians caught in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. There were 11,000 fatalities in The Battle of Vimy Ridge. The leader/commander of the U.K. and Canada was Sir Julian Byng. His men liked Byng so much that they called themselves Byng 's Boys. There was 150,000 French casualties

On April 9th 1917, at 5:30 AM , Canadian soldiers were tense and no one dared doubt their commander, the battle of Vimy Ridge was about to take place. This 110m high, 8 km front2 gave an advantage to Germany as they were able to look down and fire at any enemy troops as they approached. Previous allies such as the British and French3 have tried to take over the Ridge but resulted is a failure, leading to hundreds of thousands of casualties. The Canadians planned their attack very throughly and strong by the help of Major- General Arthur Currie and British Lieutenant-General Julian Byng.4 Strategies were created like the creeping barrage and aerial photographs were taken to pinpoint exactly where German artillery were. 20 000 Canadians5 followed a carefully thought-out plan where specific tasks were essential to meet because they could possibly result in a casuality. The 20 000 Canadians6 were split up into four divisions and each division had different parts to take over. I strongly believe that the battle of Vimy Ridge was important to Canadians because it affected many people. Also the battle of Vimy Ridge led to other future

Brigadier-General A.E. Ross stated after the war, "in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation." In 1922, Vimy Ridge, and the land that surrounded it, was handed over to Canada by the French government. Canada won a seat as a separate nation at the peace talks after the war. Canada took this with great admiration and pride. Four Canadians won the Victoria Cross, which was considered as the most prestigious award given by Britain to its heroes at Vimy. The victory was a great morale booster and focused international attention on Canada. This shows how significant this battle was not only to Canadian Corps but also to the nation as a whole. To this day, the sculptures of the Vimy Memorial portray a dreadful and emotional remembrance of the many Canadian soldiers killed in

On June 6, 1944, the Battle of Normandy began. This day, also known as D-Day, would go down in history for making a tremendous impact on the war. The German and American forces fought hard, inflicting injuries beyond compare (G1). Many people were highly dedicated to fighting for their country, resulting in many lost lives (C1). Many Americans were so determined that they actually swam into German fire to fight on the coast of France (F1). The D-Day invasion was a very important event in history, and impacted the war in many ways.

Also known as Operation Overlord, the battle started on June 6, 1944, when some 156,000 Allied forces landed on the beach along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region also called the Atlantic wall. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history, 5 days after the initial attack, on June 11, the beaches were under allied influence and over 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles and some 100,000 tons of equipment had landed at Normandy.

The Battle of Okinawa, otherwise known as “Operation Iceberg”, is the bloodiest battle which took place on April 1st, 1945 and ended on June 22nd, 1945. This horrific clash happened on the island of Okinawa in Japan. The combatants involved the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. 287,000 American and British troops fighting against 130,000 on the Japanese side. The battle was fought because capturing Okinawa was part of the three-point plan that America had for having a victory in the war in the Far East.

The allied invasion of Normandy, D-Day, was the largest amphibious attack in world history and a crucial moment in World War 2. On the morning of June 6, 1944, approximately 160,000 allied troops would cross the English Channel and invade the coasts of Normandy, France to retake the Western Coast of Europe from the

The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) in its combat phase, was a war - in the Persian Gulf region - waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq 's invasion and annexation of