The 75th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge is also the 56th anniversary of the dedication of the Vimy Memorial. In the summer of 1936 over 100,000 people witnessed a ceremony which captured the imagination of the world and crystalized the Canadian memory of Vimy ridge. The historical reality of the battle was re-worked and reinterpreted in a conscious attempt to give purpose and meaning to an event which was to symbolize Canada’s coming-of-age as a nation

Pierce, John

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

Canadian Military HistoryVolume 1 | Issue 1 Article 21-23-2012Constructing Memory: The Vimy MemorialJohn PierceThis Feature is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canadian MilitaryHistory by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationPierce, John (1992) "Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial," Canadian Military History: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 2.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol1/iss1/21Pierce: Constructing Memory: The Vimy MemorialPublished by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 1992Constmcting Memory: The Vimy Memorial John Pierce T he 75th anniversary of the battle ofVimy Ridge is also the 56th anniversary of the dedication of the Vimy Memorial. In the summer of 1936 over 100,000 people witnessed a ceremony which captured the imagination of the world and crystalized the Canadian memory of Vimy ridge. The historical reality of the battle was re-worked and reinterpreted in a conscious attempt to give purpose and meaning to an event which was to symbolize Canada's coming-of-age as a nation. The process of constructing memory began in 1920when the House ofCommons agreed to a motion creating the Battlefields Memorials Commission. Eight sites were selected for the creation of monuments "to commemorate the heroism . . . and victories of the Canadian soldier in the Great War". These sites, the Minister of Militia and Defence, Hugh Guthrie noted "will be known to history" as: l. St. Julien. a battle which was fought during the month of April 1915. and also known as the second battle of Ypres. 2. The battle ofPasschendaele. a battle which extended from 22nd October to the 17th November. 1917. 3. The baitle of Observatory Ridge. some times known as the battle of St. Eloi, which extended from May until June in the year 1916. 4. The battle ofVimy Ridge which took place on the 9th April. 1917. and continued until May 3 following. 5. The Battle of Arras which took place during the months of August and September, 1918. 6. The baUle of Bourlon Wood which took place on September 27. 1918. Soldiers of the First Canadian Infantry Division inspect a memorial erected by their comrades on Vimy Ridge. (NAC PA 2414) 7. The battle of Courcelette. which was part of the great battle of the Somme fought during the months of September and October 1916. 8. The battle of Amiens which took place during the months of September and October. 1918. 1 Vimy was not singled out as the location for a great memorial for several years. Initially "the memorial was to be erected on Hill 62 near the Ypres salient, but on further consideration the officers who had charge of it decided Vimy would be a more suitable point. "2 Major General S.C. Mewburn who chaired the Commission reported that while many of the army officers "held that Vimy was by no means the most important battle fought by the Canadian Corps," there was something "distinctive about Vimy ----5 2Canadian Military History, Vol. 1 [1992], Iss. 1, Art. 2http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol1/iss1/2Ridge that comes very close to the hearts of Canadians." This was no doubt true but Mewburn also reported that after all the sites had been surveyed ''the obvious superiority" of the Vimy location was evident to alP The House of Commons offered unanimous support for the acquisition ofland to create the memorial park. George Graham, Mackenzie King's Minister of Militia, described the memorial as "a monument to Canada's ideals, to Canada's courage, and to Canada's devotion to what the people of this land deemed to be right. "4 The design selected for Vimy was the work of Toronto-based architect Walter S. Allward. From an original field of 162 designs, 8 were selected, one for each of the designated sites. Allward's stunning modernist creation was to be the largest and most impressive project, symbolizing "the whole achievement of Canadian troops during the Great War." 5 The necessary road building and landscaping was carried out by French and British veterans employed by the Imperial War Graves Commission. In 1925 Allward moved to Paris to supervise the construction of the monument and the sculptures for it. He described his concept in these words: At the base of the strong, impregnable wall of defence are the defenders, one group showing the breaking of the sword, the other the sympathy of the Canadians for the helpless. Above these are the mouths of guns covered with olives and laurels. On the wall stands the heroic figure of Canada brooding over the graves of her valiant dead; below is suggested a grave with a helmet, laurels, etc. Behind her stand two Pylons, symbolizing the two forces - Canadian and French - while between, at the base of these, is the Spirit of Sacrifice who, giving all, throws the torch to his comrades. Looking up, they see the figures of Peace, Justice, Truth and Knowledge, etc. for which they fought, chanting the hymn of peace. Around these figures are the shields of Britain, Canada and France. On the outside of the pYlon is the Cross. 6 In 192 7, a small party of veterans had journeyed to France to commemorate the lOth anniversary of the battle. Their trip was overshadowed by the large-scale return of 6 American veterans to the battlefields of France and this prompted the Legion to discuss the idea of a pilgrimage to Vimy at its 1928 convention. The decision towaitforthemoment when the great memorial would be completed was partly influenced by the onset of the Great Depression but there was also the reality that Vimy had become a metaphor for Canadian nationhood. A pilgrimage to this sacred site became a goal worth organizing and sacrificing for. During the fifteen years between Allward's design ofthe monument and the installation of the last dramatic sculptures the world had changed. Vimy, which began as a monument to the valour, the heroism and the victories of the Canadian Corps, also had to serve as memorial to the 19,000 soldiers of the Canadian Corps who, missing in action, knew no marked grave. Allward agreed to inscribe the names of these men on the base of the monument, transforming Vimy into hallowed ground, an empty tomb, a place of pilgrimage. Allward had also been influenced by the general revulsion from war that characterized the late 1920's and early 1930's. His sculpture 'The Defenders - The Breaking of the Sword" had originally included a German "coal scuttle helmet" crushed under the foot of one of the figures but this feature was dropped because of its "militaristic" imagery. 7 At home in Canada opposition to "militarism" and a revisionist approach to the meaning of the GreatWarwas actively promoted by pacifist organizations and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Parliament. As early as 1926 Agnes Macphail, the first woman to become a Member of Parliament in Canada, challenged a reference to Vimy which spoke of the nobility of sacrifice made by young Canadians with the statement, "Will the honourable member admit that what caused the late war is the cause of all wars? Will he admit that the prime cause was an economic one, and that protection of women and children was part of it." George Nicholson, a war veteran, replied, "I will not admit to anything of 3Pierce: Constructing Memory: The Vimy MemorialPublished by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 1992the kind,"8 but Great War veterans would increasingly find themselves on the defensive. By the mid-thirties the Vimy Memorial would have to serve as a protest against war as well as a monument to heroism, sacrifice and victory. The monument was near enough to completion to allow plans for a great pilgrimage to be made for the summer of 1936. More than 6,000 Canadians sailed to Europe aboard five chartered steamers while tens of thousands of British and French veterans and civilians converged on the site. The President of France would be there and the great French commander, Marshal Philipe Petain, but the main attraction, apart from the monument, was King Edward VIII making his first great ceremonial appearance since ascending the throne. The speeches that day echoed andre-echoed the themes of sacrifice, remembrance and appeals for peace. Macleans magazine had noted that the pilgrimage was taking place at a time when "Europe was hovering on the brink of another mad orgy of slaughter,"9 and many of the pilgrims were aware of the irony of dedicating a memorial to one war while another might begin at any moment. The Vimy pilgrimage, like the memorial, itself was full of ambiguities. Was it a celebration of the achievement of the Canadian Corps or a ceremony mourning the dead? Was it an imperial event solidifYing Canada's relationship with its new King or a statement about an independent Canadian nation? Was the monument to be seen as a remonstrance against war or a warning to the enemies of democracy that Canada would again play its part in defending Britain and France? It was all of these and more. It was, and is, quintessentially Canadian. Pilgrims and spectators gather on Vimy Ridge prior to the dedication ceremony. Buses queue on the right while passengers make their way to the memorial through shell craters. This view faces sotLthwest. (NAC PA 148873) 4Canadian Military History, Vol. 1 [1992], Iss. 1, Art. 2http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol1/iss1/2Notes l. Debates, House of Commons. 21 April 1920. 2. Ibid., 22 May 1922. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid. 5. WalterS. Allward. "The Vimy Memorial." The Legionary. August 1936. See also W.W. Murray. The Epic ojVimy. Ottawa, 1936. 6. Ibid. 7. Allward told this to the British newspaper. 8. Debates, House of Commons. 23 April 1926. 9. Macleans. 15 April 1936. John Pierce is a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University writing on the Vimy Memorial and Pilgrimage. A view of the inner wall of the memorial facing southwest. The 11,285 names on the memorial, organized alphabetically and by rank, represent those Canadians, "missing, presumed dead," in France. The names were engraved with ajlat-tipped sand-cutting tool and took seven years to compile and two years to engrave. (NAC PA 183625) 5Pierce: Constructing Memory: The Vimy MemorialPublished by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 1992

Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial

Scholars Commons

Canadian Military History
Volume 1 | Issue 1 Article 2
1-23-2012
Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial
John Pierce
This Feature is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canadian Military
History by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation
Pierce, John (1992) "Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial," Canadian Military History: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol1/iss1/2
1Pierce: Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 1992
Constmcting Memory: 
The Vimy Memorial 
John Pierce 
T he 75th anniversary of the battle ofVimy Ridge is also the 56th anniversary of the 
dedication of the Vimy Memorial. In the summer 
of 1936 over 100,000 people witnessed a 
ceremony which captured the imagination of 
the world and crystalized the Canadian memory 
of Vimy ridge. The historical reality of the 
battle was re-worked and reinterpreted in a 
conscious attempt to give purpose and meaning 
to an event which was to symbolize Canada's 
coming-of-age as a nation. 
The process of constructing memory began 
in 1920when the House ofCommons agreed to 
a motion creating the Battlefields Memorials 
Commission. Eight sites were selected for the 
creation of monuments "to commemorate the 
heroism . . . and victories of the Canadian 
soldier in the Great War". These sites, the 
Minister of Militia and Defence, Hugh Guthrie 
noted "will be known to history" as: 
l. St. Julien. a battle which was fought during the 
month of April 1915. and also known as the 
second battle of Ypres. 
2. The battle ofPasschendaele. a battle which extended 
from 22nd October to the 17th November. 1917. 
3. The baitle of Observatory Ridge. some times 
known as the battle of St. Eloi, which extended 
from May until June in the year 1916. 
4. The battle ofVimy Ridge which took place on the 
9th April. 1917. and continued until May 3 following. 
5. The Battle of Arras which took place during the 
months of August and September, 1918. 
6. The baUle of Bourlon Wood which took place on 
September 27. 1918. 
Soldiers of the First Canadian Infantry Division 
inspect a memorial erected by their comrades on 
Vimy Ridge. (NAC PA 2414) 
7. The battle of Courcelette. which was part of the 
great battle of the Somme fought during the months 
of September and October 1916. 
8. The battle of Amiens which took place during 
the months of September and October. 1918. 1 
Vimy was not singled out as the location for 
a great memorial for several years. Initially 
"the memorial was to be erected on Hill 62 near 
the Ypres salient, but on further consideration 
the officers who had charge of it decided Vimy 
would be a more suitable point. "2 Major General 
S.C. Mewburn who chaired the Commission 
reported that while many of the army officers 
"held that Vimy was by no means the most 
important battle fought by the Canadian Corps," 
there was something "distinctive about Vimy 
----
5 
2
Canadian Military History, Vol. 1 [1992], Iss. 1, Art. 2
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol1/iss1/2
Ridge that comes very close to the hearts of 
Canadians." This was no doubt true but 
Mewburn also reported that after all the sites 
had been surveyed ''the obvious superiority" of 
the Vimy location was evident to alP 
The House of Commons offered 
unanimous support for the acquisition ofland 
to create the memorial park. George Graham, 
Mackenzie King's Minister of Militia, described 
the memorial as "a monument to Canada's 
ideals, to Canada's courage, and to Canada's 
devotion to what the people of this land deemed 
to be right. "4 
The design selected for Vimy was the work of 
Toronto-based architect Walter S. Allward. 
From an original field of 162 designs, 8 were 
selected, one for each of the designated sites. 
Allward's stunning modernist creation was to 
be the largest and most impressive project, 
symbolizing "the whole achievement of 
Canadian troops during the Great War." 5 
The necessary road building and landscaping 
was carried out by French and British veterans 
employed by the Imperial War Graves 
Commission. In 1925 Allward moved to Paris 
to supervise the construction of the monument 
and the sculptures for it. He described his 
concept in these words: 
At the base of the strong, impregnable wall of defence are 
the defenders, one group showing the breaking of the 
sword, the other the sympathy of the Canadians for the 
helpless. Above these are the mouths of guns covered with 
olives and laurels. On the wall stands the heroic figure of 
Canada brooding over the graves of her valiant dead; 
below is suggested a grave with a helmet, laurels, etc. 
Behind her stand two Pylons, symbolizing the two forces 
- Canadian and French - while between, at the base of 
these, is the Spirit of Sacrifice who, giving all, throws the 
torch to his comrades. Looking up, they see the figures of 
Peace, Justice, Truth and Knowledge, etc. for which they 
fought, chanting the hymn of peace. Around these figures 
are the shields of Britain, Canada and France. On the 
outside of the pYlon is the Cross. 6 
In 192 7, a small party of veterans had 
journeyed to France to commemorate the lOth 
anniversary of the battle. Their trip was 
overshadowed by the large-scale return of 
6 
American veterans to the battlefields of France 
and this prompted the Legion to discuss the 
idea of a pilgrimage to Vimy at its 1928 
convention. The decision towaitforthemoment 
when the great memorial would be completed 
was partly influenced by the onset of the Great 
Depression but there was also the reality that 
Vimy had become a metaphor for Canadian 
nationhood. A pilgrimage to this sacred site 
became a goal worth organizing and sacrificing 
for. 
During the fifteen years between Allward's 
design ofthe monument and the installation of 
the last dramatic sculptures the world had 
changed. Vimy, which began as a monument 
to the valour, the heroism and the victories of 
the Canadian Corps, also had to serve as 
memorial to the 19,000 soldiers of the Canadian 
Corps who, missing in action, knew no marked 
grave. Allward agreed to inscribe the names of 
these men on the base of the monument, 
transforming Vimy into hallowed ground, an 
empty tomb, a place of pilgrimage. Allward had 
also been influenced by the general revulsion 
from war that characterized the late 1920's 
and early 1930's. His sculpture 'The Defenders 
- The Breaking of the Sword" had originally 
included a German "coal scuttle helmet" 
crushed under the foot of one of the figures but 
this feature was dropped because of its 
"militaristic" imagery. 7 
At home in Canada opposition to "militarism" 
and a revisionist approach to the meaning of 
the GreatWarwas actively promoted by pacifist 
organizations and the Co-operative 
Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Parliament. 
As early as 1926 Agnes Macphail, the first 
woman to become a Member of Parliament in 
Canada, challenged a reference to Vimy which 
spoke of the nobility of sacrifice made by young 
Canadians with the statement, "Will the 
honourable member admit that what caused 
the late war is the cause of all wars? Will he 
admit that the prime cause was an economic 
one, and that protection of women and children 
was part of it." George Nicholson, a war 
veteran, replied, "I will not admit to anything of 
3
Pierce: Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 1992
the kind,"8 but Great War veterans would 
increasingly find themselves on the defensive. 
By the mid-thirties the Vimy Memorial would 
have to serve as a protest against war as well as 
a monument to heroism, sacrifice and victory. 
The monument was near enough to 
completion to allow plans for a great pilgrimage 
to be made for the summer of 1936. More than 
6,000 Canadians sailed to Europe aboard five 
chartered steamers while tens of thousands of 
British and French veterans and civilians 
converged on the site. The President of France 
would be there and the great French 
commander, Marshal Philipe Petain, but the 
main attraction, apart from the monument, 
was King Edward VIII making his first great 
ceremonial appearance since ascending the 
throne. The speeches that day echoed andre-
echoed the themes of sacrifice, remembrance 
and appeals for peace. Macleans magazine 
had noted that the pilgrimage was taking place 
at a time when "Europe was hovering on the 
brink of another mad orgy of slaughter,"9 and 
many of the pilgrims were aware of the irony of 
dedicating a memorial to one war while another 
might begin at any moment. 
The Vimy pilgrimage, like the memorial, 
itself was full of ambiguities. Was it a celebration 
of the achievement of the Canadian Corps or a 
ceremony mourning the dead? Was it an 
imperial event solidifYing Canada's relationship 
with its new King or a statement about an 
independent Canadian nation? Was the 
monument to be seen as a remonstrance against 
war or a warning to the enemies of democracy 
that Canada would again play its part in 
defending Britain and France? It was all of 
these and more. It was, and is, quintessentially 
Canadian. 
Pilgrims and spectators gather on Vimy Ridge prior to the dedication ceremony. Buses queue on the right while 
passengers make their way to the memorial through shell craters. This view faces sotLthwest. 
(NAC PA 148873) 
4
Canadian Military History, Vol. 1 [1992], Iss. 1, Art. 2
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol1/iss1/2
Notes 
l. Debates, House of Commons. 21 April 1920. 
2. Ibid., 22 May 1922. 
3. Ibid. 
4. Ibid. 
5. WalterS. Allward. "The Vimy Memorial." 
The Legionary. August 1936. See also W.W. Murray. 
The Epic ojVimy. Ottawa, 1936. 
6. Ibid. 
7. Allward told this to the British newspaper. 
8. Debates, House of Commons. 23 April 1926. 
9. Macleans. 15 April 1936. 
John Pierce is a graduate student at Wilfrid 
Laurier University writing on the Vimy 
Memorial and Pilgrimage. 
A view of the inner wall of the memorial facing 
southwest. The 11,285 names on the memorial, 
organized alphabetically and by rank, represent 
those Canadians, "missing, presumed dead," in 
France. The names were engraved with ajlat-tipped 
sand-cutting tool and took seven years to compile 
and two years to engrave. (NAC PA 183625) 
5
Pierce: Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 1992


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