Ceremony held to mark Vimy Ridge anniversary
Posted Apr 9, 2011 04:41:10 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was 94 years ago today that a 3-day battle began at Vimy Ridge. It was a battle that many say defined Canada as a nation. Now, for the first time ever, there are no surviving World War I veterans to mark the event.
The torch has been passed to the younger generation as army cadets stood guard over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier all night, this after a candlelight ceremony, Friday evening. The memorial culminated with a wreath-laying ceremony at the National War Memorial on Saturday at 10 a.m.
This was the first time a candlelight ceremony was held to mark the anniversary. 125 students took part last night. The cadets had shifts in groups of four. One stood at each corner of the tomb throughout the night until the wreath laying ceremony this morning.
Joanne Sutherland drove to Ottawa from Toronto to commemorate her fathers contribution to the battle of Vimy Ridge, saying that he felt it was his duty and joined at a young age. James Ross Sutherland fought in the battle and was badly injured, sustaining injuries to his eye, arms, legs, and his chest.
“You could fit your fist in the empty cavity, his rib cage has been blown out,” explains Joanne
She explains he was a very happy loving man, although he would never talk about what happened on the field.
“The only thing he would say that the weather was awful that day; the sleet, mud and rats,” says Joanne after asking about her father.
The posts card posted above is a letter from James to his mother, in it he apologizes to his mother for the state of the card… The reason it was in such a poor state was because he had fought in the Vimy Ridge Battle.
