93 Years ago today my father John D Hills at the age of 19 went "over the top" at Vimy Ridge with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. I write this as I will forever remember him as such a great dad and how lucky I was he survived to marry my mom. He was awarded the Military Medal for that battle but when asked what he did would never give me a straight answer. The usual was something about a bag of medals were brought up and I grabbed a good one. War sadened my dad and when I visited Vimy in 2003 I saw so many of his comrades lying in cemeteries where ever I visited. It was sad so many young lives were lost and so many hearts were broken. Seeing some of the inscriptions on gravestones literally brought tears to your eyes. Today is another anniversary of that epic battle that probably brought more recognition to Canada than any other battle our troops fought. Over 3,500 brave soldiers gave their lives during that battle so we can live with the security we do today. All members of our military deserve our utmost respect not just today but everyday. To all of you who have served, in every war and in Afghanistan: Thank You. Your sacrifices have given me and all generations a life of abundance and security.
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3,500+ Canadians died taking the Ridge and 7,000 more were wounded. Previous French attacks came at a cost of 200,000 dead with little or no ground gained. The Canadians accomplished what was said to be "impossible" as the ridge was thought to be impregnable. (Period WW1 Vimy Ridge video "No sound")
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From The Ridge
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Dedication to Vimy Ridge and Pte. Milne
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Vimy Ridge
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Vimy Ridge
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The Great War was a nasty war. My Grandfather, on my Mom's side, was supposed to be over in France then. However, the whole family on that side has died off and no one knows for sure what he did. Thank you for posting...chris3
I know what my grandfather did in that war. He was in the Signal Corp. On his last day of battle he and his squad was ambushed by a couple of German machine guns. After everyone was wounded my grandfather, all 5'3" of him, according to the citation rook out both guns and started dragging all three of his buddies one at a time back to his own lines. Going back the 3rd time he had to take out the Germans that he replaced the ones he had already killed before dragging the last of his squad back. He was wounded twice in the process. For his actions during the battle of the Argonne he was awarded the Silver Star and the equivilent of the Purple Heart. I found this out through the county V.A. office several years after Grand dad died. He never mentioned what he did. He did make me promise never to be a coal miner though.
I think it says a lot about the men who have fought. They rose/rise to the occasion and did what was needed. My own dad has always been criptic about what he did during vietnam. I now know he was doing special ops stuff that now are done by the navy seal teams. His feelings are more like "that was the past " and he moved on with life.
Those are men that I feel are a cut above most, myself included.
john
than any other battle our troops fought. Over 3,500 brave soldiers gave their lives during that battle so we can live with the security we do today. All members of our military deserve our utmost respect not just today but everyday. To all of you who have served, in every war and in Afghanistan: Thank You. Your sacrifices have given me and all generations a life of abundance and security.
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PM
