A visit to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial on Vimy Ridge

Vimy Ridge: The Canadian National Vimy Memorial (Pas-de-Calais)

A few weeks ago, at the end of March, I took a day’s leave and made a day trip to France via Eurostar. I work near St Pancras, and often hear the TGV TMST (Class 373) and e320 (Class 374) units on their comings and goings to and from the station. The plan was to see how a day trip to part of the old Western Front would work in practice.

Last year, I had managed to fit in quick visits to CWGC cemeteries at Hazebrouck, Berguette and Béthune on my way towards Tourcoing and a weekend in Ieper. A day trip, however, imposed much stricter conditions. I had pre-booked seats on the earliest service from St Pancras International to Lille Europe (ES9110, the 06:47 to Brussels Midi), and on the service returning from Lille at 21:00 (ES9163). This gave me, taking into account check-in times, a maximum of eleven hours for my visit.

There were many potential options, but I finally decided to head to Vimy Ridge, the location of the largest Canadian memorial on the Western Front.

Getting to Vimy Ridge by public transport is not entirely straightforward. There are a few bus routes that link Lens with Angres or Souchez, and there are a few others that approach from the Arras direction towards Neuville-Saint-Vaast. However, none of these services were very frequent (or predictable). The safest route, therefore, seemed to be to travel to Vimy by rail, and to walk.

The outward journey:

The Eurostar service left St Pancras on time and entered the Channel Tunnel at 07:37 (GMT), after short stops at Ebbsfleet and Ashford. The weather in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais was mostly cloudy, and the Kemmelberg was only faintly visible as my train passed by Bailleul. After my arrival in Lille, I had plenty of time to walk over to the Gare de Flandres and to buy a return ticket to Vimy, via Lens. The service left Lille at 10:19 and took about an hour to get to Lens, travelling via Don – Sainghin. At Lens, the Arras train was waiting, and the Canadian memorial was clearly visible on the approach into Vimy.

Vimy: Arriving at the station (Pas-de-Calais)

Vimy to Vimy Ridge:

After my arrival at Vimy station, I found that there was a bilingual notice explaining how visitors could get to the memorial (this included the numbers of some taxi companies). The sign estimated that it would take around 60 to 75 minutes to walk, and provided a map of a suggested route. I set off down Rue de la Gare to the town centre, turning right at the war memorial to pass by the Mairie, and then left into Rue Lamartine, to which the woodland on Vimy Ridge formed a formidable backdrop. At the end of Rue Roger Salengro, I at first turned right on Avenue du Canada and walked down to Petit-Vimy, from where I found the track leading up to Petit-Vimy British Cemetery.

Vimy: Petit-Vimy British Cemetery (Pas-de-Calais)

Petit-Vimy British Cemetery was a small, quite remote cemetery, cut into the scarp slope of the ridge. There were good views through the trees towards Vimy and the Douai Plain, but the first thing that I did was to inadvertently flush a snipe! The cemetery mostly contained Canadian burials, all dating from the period April to October 1917. The graves included those of Privates Sasero Matsubayashi and Yasagiro Tanaka of the 52nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment), both of whom had been born in Japan.

The hillside was mostly quiet (except for the noise of the N17 autoroute), but there seemed to be no direct way from there to get into the forêt domaniale de Vimy (Vimy national forest). I, therefore, returned to the Avenue du Canada to take the mostly road-based route recommended by the sign posted at the railway station (this was probably a tactical error, as there does seem to be a more direct route to the Vimy Memorial passing directly through the Forêt de Vimy, e.g. from Rue Sadi Carnot). My revised route meant climbing the ridge via the verge of the Avenue du Canada, which was not a particularly pleasant experience (it was even worse on the return leg).

From the top of the ridge, with Thélus just visible to the east and Neuville-Saint-Vaast to the south, my walk followed the Route des Canadiens over the N17 and through the national forest. There was evidence of recent logging, and the winding road gradually led me to the eastern entrance to the memorial park of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

Neuville-Saint-Vaast: Canadian National Vimy Memorial (Pas-de-Calais)

The path led me through the grassed-over remains of trench systems, shell holes, and the craters left by wartime mining activity. After a few yards, there was a break in the trees and there were some sections of trench systems that had been preserved in concrete. I wandered through the nearest section (part of the German outpost line) and then across a deeply-cratered slice of no-mans-land to the British outpost line (the actual front lines would have been further back). Just beyond the trenches was the entrance to the Grange subway (which is sometimes open for guided tours) and the visitor centre.

I headed directly on, noting how close I was at that point to the E12 motorway (the Autoroute des Anglais). The trees parted again at a junction near the site of Broadmarsh Crater. I took the left turn, which was signposted to two of the CWGC cemeteries in the park: Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery and Canadian Cemetery No. 2, both of which are in the commune of Neuville-Saint-Vaast.

Neuville-Saint-Vaast: Grave markers from the 54th Battalion, Canadian Infantry in Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery (Pas-de-Calais)

Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery was a small circular cemetery, perhaps originally a mass burial based on a mine crater. The vast majority of those buried in the cemetery had died on the 9th April 1917, almost all from the units that formed part of the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade (which was part of the 4th Canadian Division).

From Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery, it was an easy walk to the much larger Canadian Cemetery No. 2. While it started off life as a battlefield burial ground, this cemetery remained open for reburials for a very long time after the war. For that reason, there are many grave markers here for men whose names are unknown — or, in the phrase devised for the CWGC by Rudyard Kipling, “Known unto God.” The named burials also span many time periods of the war.

Interlude 1: Sergeants Stone and Washbrook at the Hohenzollern Redoubt

I particularly wanted to find a pair of grave markers in Plot 14, Row B of Canadian Cemetery No. 2. These two particular burials actually had very little to do with Vimy. The stones were for two Staffordshire bellringers that had been killed in action near the Hohenzollern Redoubt on the 13th October 1915, at the tail end of the Battle of Loos (long before the British had taken over the sector around Vimy).

Neuville-Saint-Vaast: Canadian Cemetery No. 2 (Pas-de-Calais)

1522 Sergeant Walter Richard Washbrook of the 1/5th North Staffordshire Regiment was a bellringer from Tunstall, near Stoke-on-Trent (Staffordshire). Walter was the son of the prolific peal-ringer James William Washbrook [1]. His three brothers were also bellringers and there are records in the Ringing World of the father and sons ringing together on handbells:

The Ringing World, 15th March 1912, p. 182.

Two of Walter’s brothers, Second Lieutenants Harry and Mark Thomas Washbrook, would also die during the war. All three of their CWGC grave markers include the inscription: “One of three brothers killed. Faithful in service, even unto death.” Another brother, James William Washbrook, junr., was severely wounded at Gallipoli, but survived the war. The name of Walter Washbrook, as well as those of his brothers, features on the Stoke Archidiaconal Association of Change Ringers memorial in St Peter’s Church, Stoke-on-Trent.

70 Sergeant Reginald Grimmit Stone of the 1/6th North Staffordshire Regiment was a bellringer from St. Paul’s Church, Burton-on-Trent (Staffordshire). At the turn of the twentieth century, the band at St. Paul’s, initially led by William Wakley, was instrumental in popularising the ringing of what remain today as standard bellringing methods. Reginald G. Stone rang in several peals, including the Treble bell to a peal of London Surprise Major in November 1911:

The Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 25th November 1911, p. 440.

Sergeants Washbrook and Stone were both killed in action on the 13th October 1915 during an ill-fated attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8, north of Lens, by the 46th (North Midland) Division. At that time, both the 1/5th and 1/6th North Staffords formed part of 137th Infantry Brigade, which was sometimes known as the Staffordshire Brigade. The 1/5th were one of the leading battalions, with the 1/6th following up. The War Diary of the 1/6th North Staffords provides an brief outline of what happened from their perspective [2]:

Oct 13th, 12. noon: At 12. noon our Artillery heavily bombarded FOSSE 8 – BIG WILLIE – HOENZOLLERN [i.e. Hohenzollern] REDOUBT, and enemy’s machine gun emplacements, communication trenches.
1. pm. At 1 . pm gas & smoke used against hostile position. Between 1.0 & 1.30 enemy ranged with machine guns onto our trenches, also shelled support trenches.
2. pm. At 2. pm Infantry of 137 Bde advanced against BIG-WILLIE – DUMP TRENCH & FOSSE 8. A & B Coys 6 N. Staffs Regt forming 3rd Line. C &D Coys in fourth line. Enemies machine gun & rifle fire very heavy on advancing infantry who were unable to proceed. Line established in old fire trench. Two bombing parties were found by this Battalion on gaining 30 yards of BIG WILLIE TRENCH but had to retire through heavy casualties & were relieved by 1/5 S. Staffs. Regt.
Enemy kept up a heavy fire on our trenches with their Artillery & machine gun making the work of bringing in wounded a difficult one.

Andrew Rawson’s Battleground Europe book on the Hohenzollern Redoubt notes how quickly the attack was effectively over [3]:

The 1/5th North Staffordshires sustained over five hundred casualties, most had been hit within a few yards of their own trench.
The first two companies of the 1/6th North Staffordshires followed in support:
Under a very heavy rifle and machine-gun fire from the enemy, which accounted for the large number of casualties in the first 200 yards of the advance …. Apparently there were no Company officers left with the leading two companies and the men got grouped together and suffered heavily in consequence, particularly on the left.
Realising that the attack had failed, Lieutenant-Colonel R F Ratcliff ordered his two reserve companies to stand fast.

At least one other member of the band at St. Paul’s, Burton-on-Trent, Private Albert Percy Wakley of the 1/6th North Staffords, was severely wounded on the 13th October. He survived and later served as a Sergeant in the Labour Corps, but died of influenza on the 18th February 1919, aged 29.

The concentration records made available by the CWGC indicate that the bodies of Sergeants Washbrook and Stone were found after the war in a grave located south of Auchy-lez-La-Bassée (now known as Auchy-les-Mines), close to the site of the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8. They were two of six casualties found in a single grave, which also included 613 Corporal T. Fitzjohn of the 1/5th North Staffords and several others who remain unidentified. Remarkably, while serving in different battalions within the same brigade, these two Staffordshire bellringers ended up being buried in the same mass grave and, following discovery and identification, were moved after the war to adjacent grave plots in Canadian Cemetery No. 2.

The name of Sergeants R. G. Stone and A. P. Wakley on the St. Paul’s Church War Memorial, Burton-on-Trent (Staffordshire)

The Vimy Memorial:

I had also hoped to visit at least one of the CWGC cemeteries on the other side of the E12 motorway, but I realised at this point that it would probably take me well over an hour to make the round trip to Zouave Valley Cemetery. With the Vimy Memorial now within sight, I instead walked back to the Broadmarsh Crater junction, and then up the hill to the memorial itself.

Givenchy-en-Gohelle: Canadian National Vimy Memorial (Pas-de-Calais)

The memorial is a huge Seget limestone monument built on the highest point of Vimy Ridge, overlooking the Douai Plain. Designed by Walter Seymour Allward, the memorial is dominated by two pylons, and incorporates twenty double life-sized human figures, including a memorable one of “Canada Bereft.” In addition to being the main Canadian memorial on the Western Front, the Vimy Memorial also commemorates 11,000 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force that died in France and who have no known grave. Their names are carved in alphabetical order on several sides of the monument. The Vimy Memorial is undoubtedly impressive, even if all of that pale stone may not suit all tastes. I sought out the names of a handful of persons named on the memorial, and then walked anticlockwise in a loop on the far side, ending up at the memorial to the 1st Moroccan Division of the French Army, who had briefly captured the ridge in 1915.

Givenchy-en-Gohelle: Canadian National Vimy Memorial (Pas-de-Calais)

Interlude 2: Private Harry Ford, 10th Canadian Infantry:

One of the names that I had sought out on the Vimy Memorial was that of 434061 Private Harry Ford of the 10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry. Private Ford had been born in Dorset and was killed in action on the 9th April 1917, during the opening offensive of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The “Fighting Tenth” were part of the 2nd Brigade in the 1st Canadian Division, which at Vimy Ridge was commanded by Major-General Arthur Currie (later the commander of the Canadian Corps). At Vimy Ridge, the Division were in the southern sector of the Canadian Corps advance and they reached all of their objectives (by the Arras-Lens railway) by the afternoon of the second day of the battle.

Givenchy-en-Gohelle: The name of Pte Harry Ford on the Vimy Memorial (Pas-de-Calais)

A short history of the 10th Battalion, published shortly after the capture of Passchendaele in November 1917, provides a quick overview of the 10th Battalion’s actions before and during the battle for Vimy Ridge [4]:

PREPARATIONS FOR VIMY.
In mid-March the Battalion moved into the Labyrinthe sector — plans were maturing for a great attack on Vimy Ridge. The weather had resumed its “frightfulness” and seemed to preclude the possibility of action, but tremendous offensives involving armies cannot wait upon weather. Too much depends upon the secret massing of men — the element of surprise which cannot be concealed for long from the eyes of the modern armies — balloons and aeroplanes.
The 10th Battalion took part in the scheme of preliminary reconnaissances and raided the enemy lines during the last hours of April 8th. The operations took but an hour, and despite the most desperate opposition, all objectives were reached. Immense damage was done to permanent works, and eleven prisoners were captured, besides many secret documents, which proved invaluable to the General Staff.
Information regarding the enemy’s strength and dispositions was now adequate, and preparations were rapidly completed for the assault on Vimy Ridge one of the strongest bulwarks of the German defences on the Western front. This honour was to be conferred upon the Canadians.
There was really nothing new in the Canadian system of attack beyond a perfect application of the artillery barrage. Every movement of each attacking unit was to be covered by protective shell curtains, timed to advance in front of the troops with mathematical precision. The rest was left to the valour of the men, in whom the Higher Command placed absolute confidence, born of well-tried experience.
THE ATTACK.
Lieut.-Col. D. M. Ormond was now commanding the 10th Battalion. They were to operate on the left flank of the 2nd Brigade, whose objective was the Arras-Lens Railway, well over the Ridge itself. The general advance was timed for 5.30 a.m., April 9th. As the dawn began to streak the sky with shafts of light, a snow storm raged over the battlefield, covering the ground in a thin mantle of white. To the second of time the British artillery barrage opened up, descending like a wall of flame-riven smoke upon the German front line crowning the Ridge, The thunder of the guns was deafening, all-pervading, and the whine of the speeding shells merged into a crescendo of shrieking whistles as the guns, big and little, settled down to their work.
S.O.S. rockets hovered in showers above the enemy lines, and his guns answered these frantic appeals for help with a scattered ill-directed barrage, much less effective than the fire maintained by his machine guns and snipers. British counter-battery work was stifling the German gunfire.
The 10th Battalion left the “jumping-off” trench immediately the signal was given, and trudged through the muddy shell craters after the barrage, stolidly and imperturbably, indifferent to the bullets which sang and hummed through the shell-smoke like hiving bees. Men crumpled up and fell into the water-filled craters right and left, but the advance continued relentlessly.
At 6.30 a.m. the first objective, the German front line, was reached. Gun crews still fought their weapons and snipers lying in the broken ground were still firing from hot rifles as fast as they could load. “Mopping up” parties systematically cleared the dug-outs, and scores of prisoners were herded towards the Canadian lines. German dead in blood-spattered heaps blocked the trench ways.
The 10th Battalion with only one officer left, continued the advance towards the enemy’s second line, encountering the same form of opposition machine guns and snipers. The Hun had modified his method of warfare. His infantry could no longer be depended upon to cross bayonets with the British. His principal defence now consisted of picked machine gun crews and snipers, either forced or sworn to fight to the last. Many were found chained to their guns.
Shortly after 9.0 a.m. the 10th Battalion reached its second and final objective. Messy work with the bayonet and bomb quickly stifled the opposition, and in an incredibly short time the second herd of erstwhile fighting Bavarians were running eagerly towards the safety and hospitality of the Canadian lines. They were unfeignedly glad to be out of it, and required no escorts.
The advance to the railway line was continued by supporting battalions, while the 10th Battalion settled down to consolidate the captured positions. They had suffered very severely and the men were exhausted from the heavy “going,” but they turned to with a will proud in the knowledge that they had borne a good part in the taking of Vimy Ridge.
AFTERMATH.
During the ensuing day the advance was continued by the Canadians, who drove the Germans from a large section of territory beyond the Lens-Arras Railway, almost to Willerval. The 10th Battalion supported in all these movements, and finally took up a line running from Farbus Wood for several hundred yards along the railway line. For many days the weather rang the changes on every variation of winter, bringing untold hardships and misery to the Canadians, who had to hang on to the semi-destroyed positions, littered with unburied dead and the foul from the debris of battle, always knee-deep in the icy cold mud and under heavy shell fire.
The 10th Battalion were not relieved until April 21st, when they marched out to billets at Mont St. Eloi, a sad remnant of the splendid battalion that left the “jumping-off trench on the morning of April 9th.

Swyre Head and Steeple (Dorset)

Harry Charles Ford had been born at Winterborne Houghton, near Blandford Forum (Dorset) on the 18th January 1890, the son of Charles Ford and Emily Ford (née Brown). At the time of the the 1891 Census, the family were still living at Houghton. Charles Ford was 45 years old and working as a farm labourer, while Emily was 41. At the time of the census, Harry was two years old and had an older sister, the four-year-old Ellen. By the time of the 1901 Census, the family had moved to the Isle of Purbeck, living at Hyde (Hyde House [5]), in the parish of Steeple (Dorset). At the time of the census, Harry Ford was twelve years old. Charles Ford, his father, was 55, and now working as a gamekeeper. Ellen and Harry had also been joined by a younger sister, Bessie, who was nine years old in 1901. The family were still living at Hyde at the time of the 1911 Census. Charles Ford was at that time 64 years old and still working as a gamekeeper, while Emily was 60. All three of their children were still living at home: Nellie Ford (Ellen) was 24 years old and working as a school teacher; Harry was 22 years old and working as an under keeper; Bessie was 19 years old and helping at home.

Harry Ford must have emigrated to Canada fairly soon afterwards, as he enlisted in the 50th Battalion at Calgary, Alberta on the 30th December 1914. His attestation form stated that, at the time he had enlisted, Harry had already served for three years with the 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles), a militia unit. At the time of his enlistment, Harry Ford was working as a labourer.

Digitised versions of Private Ford’s attestation form and other service records are available from Library and Archives Canada [6], which enables more insight into his service career, if not his service with the Canadian Infantry. Harry Ford sailed with his unit to the UK on the 27th October 1915. After arrival, Private Ford was transferred (at Shorncliffe) to the 9th (Reserve) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was then drafted to the 10th Battalion on the 3rd August 1915, being taken on the strength of his battalion on the Western Front a few days later. In October, however, Private Ford was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley suffering from a hernia, apparently a re-occurrence of an earlier medical problem. A card from the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Woodcote Park, Epsom, in Private Ford’s service records, notes that the hernia was a result of his war service:

21/3/16. In France end of July 1915 to October. Was blown up by shell & hernia appeared.

Private Ford had an operation for the hernia on the 17th October 1915. While in the UK, Private Ford was taken onto the strength of the 9th Battalion again, but convalescence and other medical problems meant that he also spent a lot of time in various UK and Canadian medical establishments, including  hospitals at Shorncliffe, Taplow, Uxbridge, Cambridge, and Epsom. Private Ford then contacted measles in April 1916 and spent even more time in hospital, some of it in isolation, before being discharged on the 23rd May 1916, and then again on the 1st June.

Creech: War Memorial in the former Church of St John (Dorset)

On the 17th July 1916, Private Ford was struck of the strength of the 9th Battalion and transferred once again to the 10th Battalion, who were still overseas. He was killed in action on the 9th April 1917, somewhere in the southern Canadian sector at Vimy. As well as on the Vimy Memorial, Private Ford’s name features on the war memorials at Steeple, Creech, and Kimmeridge, which is where I first encountered his name.

Return to London:

After walking around the memorial, I noticed that I had about two hours to return to Vimy to catch my train, so I started to head back the way that I had come. I did take a very quick look in the memorial’s visitor centre on the way, but didn’t really have time to explore any of it in detail.

As is often the case, I arrived at Vimy station with plenty of time to spare. There was nowhere to sit down and there were periodic announcements warning of delays between Arras and Hazebrouck due to signalling problems. Despite this, the 17:37 service turned up on time and connected OK with the appropriate service at Lens. The return journey to Lille Flandres took a different route to the outward leg (this time via Hénin-Beaumont), but I arrived at Lille in time for a quick visit to the Carrefour in Euralille before I had to return to Lille Europe. The train was delayed at Calais Fréthun due to a customs work-to-rule, so the Eurostar didn’t get into London St Pancras until past 22:00 local time. It was a very long day, but was well worth it.

References:

[1]. John C. Eisel, Giants of the Exercise II: more notable ringers of the past (Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, 2006), pp. 39-42:
http://www.ringing.info/giants-of-the-exercise-2.pdf

[2] WO 95/2685/2, 1/6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment War Diary, The National Archives, Kew.

[3] Andrew Rawson, Battleground Europe: Loos – 1915: Hohenzollern Redoubt (Barnsley: Leo Cooper, 2003), p. 124.

[4] J. A. Holland, The story of the Tenth Canadian Battalion, 1914-1917 (London: Canadian War Records Office, ca. 1918), pp. 27-30:
https://archive.org/details/tenthbattalion00holluoft/page/26

[5] Steeple, in: An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South East (London: HMSO, 1970), pp. 268-273; via British History Online:
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp268-273

[6] Library and Archives Canada, Personnel Records of the First World War:
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/search.aspx