Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a pleasure to take part in this important debate. My party, like all the others, will certainly be supporting the motion. We do not do enough to honour the war dead, the many people who gave their lives so that we could have the freedom that we have.
Some of what I had planned to say tonight has already been said by my colleague from the NDP. I was told not to trust those people because they will take everything I have and that is exactly what she did. She stole my words because the description of the battle is so vivid in that piece of writing. I am sure everyone who read it wanted to use it in their speeches.
However, the member omitted part of the total presentation. There was a lead up which, in light of her speech, if we analyze it, was earth shattering when we looked at the number of Canadians who participated and who were injured. There were 10,000 casualties and over 3,500 dead. That equates to the number killed on September 11. We know how the world was affected by that great disaster. In one morning at Vimy Ridge that number of Canadians were killed in one short battle. The lead up reads:
It was at Vimy, in 1917, that all four Divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked simultaneously for the first (and last) time, about 100,000 men taking part in the battle.
If the Minister of National Defence had been here, it would have been be very interesting to have asked him this. If there were a major battle somewhere in the world tomorrow, could he put together 100,000 Canadians in one battle? I am sure we would have some problems with the support that the government presently gives the people involved in the forces.
It goes on:
Vimy Ridge was an important part of the Germans' defences, barring the way to the mines and factories in the Douai plain which had been of great use to them in their continuation of the war.
They were basically very near their supply chain.
It goes on:
The very nature of the Ridge gave it strong, built-in defence, but these natural defences had been supplemented by strong-points, elaborate trench-systems and underground tunnels linking natural caves. All previous Allied attempts to capture the Ridge had failed, and there was a strong body of opinion among the Allied commanders that the Ridge was possibly impregnable and incapable of ever being taken by a direct attack.
Preparations for the battle were thorough and extremely detailed. Behind their lines, the Canadians built a full-scale replica of the ground over which their troops would have to attack, giving all units the chance to practice their attacking movements and so understand what they (and neighbouring units) were expected to do on the day. Regular reconnaissance patrols, assisted by information gathered from aerial photography, meant that records of changes to the German defences on the Ridge were always up-to-date. Tunnellers dug subterranean passages under the Ridge - a total of five kilometres in all on four levels - allowing the attacking troops to move close to their jumping-off positions in some safety. Once the battle had begun, these same tunnels allowed the wounded to be brought back under cover and also provided unseen and safe lines of communications.
I listened to the description of the amount of work and effort and realized we did not have any dozers or backhoes to do it. It was done by individual soldiers realizing the importance of taking this ridge for the preservation of freedom for the free world.
It goes on:
The Infantry attack was preceded by a powerful artillery bombardment which lasted almost three weeks, involving about 1,000 guns, including huge, 15-inch howitzers. For the first two weeks, some guns were not fired at all, so that the Germans would not be able to locate their positions but eventually, these guns joined in the bombardment, too.
Although the shelling was aimed at the German trenches and defensive positions on the Ridge, the Canadians also shelled enemy batteries. They had become adept at locating German gun-positions and had identified the positions of 80 per cent of them.
The hon. member picked up from there and told the rest of the story. It is a story that showed us how the Canadian forces by uniting, when nobody else could do it, claimed the ridge. Many of us who know the story of other war battles think of Beaumont Hamel. The soldiers who fought that battle were not Canadian then but their sons and daughters are Canadian now. Newfoundland soldiers went over the top at Beaumont Hamel and many of them, in fact over 80%, were slaughtered. However the battles were won.
Vimy Ridge was taken and undoubtedly that was one of the turning points in the first world war. Members have mentioned that this battle should be remembered but we should also remember the memory of those people. Unfortunately, as we travel the country, many of the shrines that were built, the legion halls, in memory of the people who died for us are becoming dilapidated because it is very hard to get any assistance to keep them alive.
There is one thing we should do when we talk about our government programs, whether it be ACOA or HRDC or whatever. We have volunteers or sons and daughters of the legionnaires who are still with us trying to preserve these edifices that stand as a testament to them. These should be the first in a line of programs that we support.
Our soldiers did a tremendous amount for us. Let us not forget.
