1917 France WW1 stereo photos Canadian soldiers Vimy Ridge April 7th
Stereoscopic photo cards of the famous and "nation defining" April 7th 1917 battle of Vimy Ridge in Northern France involving Canadian Expeditionary troops (CEF). Showing Canadian soldiers lying in the churned earth after a fierce assault. The image was taken during the early morning hours of the battle, when Canadian forces faced intense German resistance on the ridge. Set of 2 identical photo cards 72 Daybreak on Vimy Ridge! After our dogged and impetuous assault on the height. April 7th. 1917 REALISTIC TRAVELS London, Cape Town, Bombay, Melbourne, Toronto By Royal Command to their Imperial Majesties KING GEORGE V and QUEEN MARY On one card the title text is off centre and bit 'smudged' Card: 8 ½ x 17 ½ cm Each photo: 8 x 7 ½ cm On 9 April 1917 four divisions of Canadian infantry recaptured the four-mile long strategic height of Vimy Ridge as part of the Battle of Arras (1917). Vimy Ridge had been occupied by the Germans since October 1914. Fortified, it commanded the flat countryside for miles around. Its capture would ensure that the southern flank of the Arras offensive could advance without suffering German enfilade fire. Careful preparations by the Canadians helped to make the assault a brilliantly successful one, forcing a German withdrawal and pressing forward the Allied front line. Vimy Ridge was the first occasion when all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. It thus became an important symbol of national unity in much the same way as Gallipoli (1915) was for the ANZACs.