Vimy is a farming community located in northern France about 175 kilometers north of Paris and is situated on a long, high ridge known as Vimy Ridge. Spanning seven miles across and rising four hundred feet, Germany captured this ridge at the beginning of World War One, and transformed it into a strong and fortified defensive position with a complex and intricate system of trenches and tunnels. A mound on top of the ridge was turned into a fortified knoll which was referred to by the Allied Forces as "The Pimple".

Because Canada was part of the British Empire, once Britain declared war on Germany on August 4^th, 1914, the country was inevitably at war with Germany as part of the Allied Forces (Britain, France and Russia and, in 1917, the USA) fighting against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria).

The Canadian Corps, as part of the allied offensive, was ordered to attack and seize the escarpment from the Germans on April 9^th, 2017. Canadian Corps General Sir Arthur William Currie was a firm believer in preparation and groundwork and knew there were lessons to be learned from the stalemated Battle of the Somme. After travelling to Verdun to interview French officers who fought in the battle, he developed a series of points he believed would be vital to the taking of Vimy Ridge such as aerial surveillance, large-scale models of the battlefield and the creation of a light-weight railway system.

No detail in the battle plan was forgotten as a full-scale model of the Ridge was constructed months in advance of the attack so the Canadians soldiers could practice and perfect the plan. The soldiers also had to perfect the "Creeping Barrage" - a slow glide that would allow the soldiers to cross no man's land - advancing 100 yards every 3 minutes just behind the artillery aimed at the Germans or the Huns as they were derogatively referred to during the war.

In each of their sectors, the final attack plan gave each of the four divisions of the Canadian Corps its own advancement objective on the four German lines of defense identified by coloured lines: (1) Black, (2) Blue (3) Brown and (4) Red.

• 1^st Division: Advance across the German forward defensive line.
• 2^nd Division: Gain control of the town of Thélus and the woods outside the town of Vimy.
• 3^rd Division: Capture the Zwölfer-Graben trench and the German second line.
• 4^th Division: Attack the fortified stronghold called "The Pimple", the Folie Farm, the Zwischen-Stellung trench and the hamlet of Les Tilleuls.

Under the command of Currie, every soldier was completely trained in the mission objectives so, in the event of an officer's death, he could take command of his platoon. Tunnels were dug that Canadian soldiers could move as close as possible to the German lines before the start of the attack and bombs were set under German strongpoints.

Zero hour - Easter Monday, April 9, 1917 - 5:30am.

In just several hours, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps did what the British and French armies failed to do in two and one-half years of fighting. Known as the Battle of Vimy Ridge, it ended on April 12th, 1917 with a Canadian victory that came at a heavy price as 3,598 Canadian soldiers were killed and another 7,000 wounded.