The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a pivotal moment in World War I, marked by significant casualties on both sides, particularly among the Canadian forces. Despite the high costs, the battle ended in a crucial victory for the Allies.
The battle of Vimy Ridge is mentioned in the book "Three Day Road" from the point of view of Elijah and his comrade. He is a sniper in no-mans land and then he saw a German attack where he was then terrified and began firing, followed by heavy artillery and machine guns. Afterwards, the Canadian and British counterattack was a victory, and Elijah was surprised by how many men he had to kill and how many men died that day. He had to stop firing once the Canadians ran past him, where he then following behind without being too close to the front of the rush.
Historical Significance
Historically, soldiers used these very safe trenches and pillboxes to research and use German equipment, and give supplies back to the stockpile of the triple entente
This battle is important (as are many) to begin to open a place to flank and use German supplies (which at that point were much high quality).
This battle is important to the future of the war because it showed the use of tunnels and popularized it, historically.
Ethical Dimensions
Elijah and his comrade was killing the Germans when it went silent (except the artillery) and then the Canadians and British launched an attack, where then he became useless and didn't know what to do
Elijah had been seeing all the Germans going over the top and was scared at first, he began to fire at a couple slowly, then the machine guns came in and he used that to cover the sound of his bullets so he kept firing and reloading, being up there he saw every single man and all of them falling down and dying which was a horrible sight to him.
Historical Perspective
Why did the Canadians not use the tunnels more throughout the war, why wouldn't they use it often or sometimes would not even use it all? My perspective is that the tunnels should have been used more if they could direct supplies and tools to be able to make high-quality tunnels, especially for big attacks
From the historical perspective, this battle was very crucial to win support for the upcoming French assault and to create a new flank against the Germans. The number of men that died that day was needed and couldn't be avoided, and of course, the first German attack caused the ridge to be lost to the Canadians with a counter-attack
Continuity and Change
Elijah had never seen so many men go over the top and was overwhelmed by the number of men he had to kill to the point where he never stopped reloading then firing right away
It was cold and wet, so the attacking side was always having problems with keeping warm, the attack of the German trenches can mean a better place to stay rather than the bad trenches downhill from the Germans, but for now, that had to hold the Germans back
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a lot different compared to the other battles, men had to cross the larger field of no man's land and artillery on both sides was raging.
Cause and Consequence
Tunnels were dug under no-mans-land and an attack was getting prepared before the Germans knew it
The battle ended with a victory but many casualties on both sides, especially the Canadians which had a very bad time. Elijah survived the battle
Elijah was in the front during the snow gathering information when he heard the roar of the men going over the top
The Battle of Vimy Ridge had a lot of Canadian casualties and British causalities, but eventually took the ridge with heavy artillery covering
The tringle entente wanted to get a flank on the Germans and then use their resources to help the German assault
