Vimy Ridge & Arras
Above: Canadian Memorial at Vimy / 2009 Photo Competition Justin Ho, KEGS Chelmsforn
Vimy Ridge was a fortress, studded with concrete pillboxes, deep dugouts and trenches, festooned with barbed wire where machine guns covered the long slope up from the Allied lines in front of Arras. Up to the spring of 1917 attempts to take the Ridge had cost the British and French armies over 190,000 casualties.
It was against this background that the Canadian Corps began their preparations. 40 kilometers of road were built and 30 kilometers of light railway tracks were laid and 7 kilometers of under ground tunnels, large enough to shelter almost 1,000 men, were dug. In, places, such as Wellington Quarry and the Grange Subway, the remnants of this work remain and are well worth a visit!
At 5.30am on the 9th April 1917 the Canadians left the security of their tunnels and trenches. Their training and detailed rehearsals paid off. At a cost of over 10,000 casualties they took the Ridge, on the highest point of which now stands the Canadian National Memorial.
A visit to Arras, Wellington Quarry and Vimy can easily be done in a day, as outlined below. Alternatively by combining it with a visit to the Somme or Ypres Ridge it can form part of a longer study tour.
Suggested itinerary
Fully guided 1-Day Vimy Ridge & Arras
- Cabaret Rouge CWGC
- Neuville St Vaast German Cemetery
- Wellington Quarry - tunnel tour
- Vimy Ridge - trench system
- Canadian National Memorial
Show & Tell Sessions
Each visitor to the battle?elds of France and Flanders tries to make sense of what it must have been like for the men who were actually there. Photographs, maps and testimonials help to build up a picture. To complete it, what could be better than to give your students a chance to get inside the mind of ‘Tommy Atkins’.
Utilising a range of period equipment and weaponry, including boots, tin hat, tunic, webbing and a Lee Enfield rife, Anglia is able to provide students travelling with us to the Ypres Salient and the Somme, with a unique hands-on experience. This engaging session led by your Anglia guide will include a short brief on the equipment on display as well as the chance for one lucky ‘volunteer’ to don full kit.
Not only does this make for a perfect photo opportunity, it is also ideal for kinaesthetic learners as it helps them get to grips with the history.
If you are interested in adding a 'Show & Tell' session to you Battlefield Tour or would like further information please contact us.
Themes
- Causes of the Great War
- The Western Front
- The ‘actualities of war’ – the experience of soldiers on the Western Front
- Kitchener’s Army – the Pals Battalions
- The relationship between Officers and men
- The development of warfare – tactics and technology in the Great War
- The role of the Generals, in particular the Haig Debate
- The impact of the Great War
Living History
A guided tour to the battlefields of the Great War is undeniably the best way for your students to begin to grasp the scale and impact of the conflict.
But there is another means to bring the realities of trench warfare to life, particularly for larger groups or younger students who cannot travel out to France or Flanders.
How about inviting ‘Tommy Atkins’ to visit you at school and having him tell your students about his experience at the front. Each of Anglia’s ‘Living History’ days is led by one of our senior guides wearing fully authentic period uniform and carrying examples of Great War weaponry.
Covering subjects such as ‘Life at the Front’, ‘Trench Routine’ or ‘Going into Action’, your guide will encourage the students to ask questions and give them the chance to handle some of the equipment
