Thread by @marinamaral2

Bringing Canadian wounded to the Field Dressing Station at Vimy Ridge in April 1917. #WorldWarI

Courtesy of @explorewellcome

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of the German 6th Army.

Vimy Ridge is an escarpment 8 km (5.0 mi) northeast of Arras on the western edge of the Douai Plain. The ridge rises gradually on its western side and drops more quickly on the eastern side.

At approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) in length and culminating at an elevation of 145 m (476 ft) or 60 m (200 ft) above the Douai Plains, the ridge provides a natural unobstructed view for tens of kilometres in all directions.

The ridge fell under German control in October 1914 during the Race to the Sea as the Franco-British and German forces continually attempted to outflank each other through northeastern France.

The French Tenth Army attempted to dislodge the Germans from the region during the Second Battle of Artois in May 1915 by attacking their positions at Vimy Ridge and Notre Dame de Lorette.

The French 1st Moroccan Division managed to briefly capture the height of the ridge but was unable to hold it owing to a lack of reinforcements.

The French made another attempt during the Third Battle of Artois in September 1915 but only captured the village of Souchez at the western base of the ridge.

The Vimy sector calmed following the offensive with both sides taking a largely live and let live approach.

In all, the French suffered approximately 150,000 casualties in their attempts to gain control of Vimy Ridge and surrounding territory.

The British XVII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng (photo), relieved the French Tenth Army in the sector in February 1916, permitting them to expand their operations at Verdun.

The British soon discovered that German tunnelling companies had taken advantage of the relative calm on the surface to build an extensive network of tunnels and deep mines from which they would attack French positions by setting off explosive charges underneath their trenches.

The Royal Engineers immediately deployed specialist tunnelling companies along the front to combat the German mining operations. In response to increased British mining aggression, German artillery and trench mortar fire intensified in early May 1916.

On 21 May 1916, after shelling both forward trenches and divisional artillery positions from no less than 80 out-of-sight batteries on the reverse slope of the ridge, the German infantry began operation Schleswig Holstein.

The Germans captured several British-controlled tunnels and mine craters before halting their advance and entrenching their positions. Small counterattacks by units of the 140th and 141st British Brigades took place on 22 May but did not manage to change the situation.

The Canadian Corps relieved the British IV Corps stationed along the western slopes of Vimy Ridge in October 1916.

By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadian Corps was in firm control of the ridge. The corps suffered 10,602 casualties: 3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded.

The German 6th Army suffered an unknown number of casualties with approximately 4,000 men becoming prisoners of war.

Four members of the Canadian Corps received the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded to British and Commonwealth forces for valor, for their actions during the battle:

Private William Johnstone Milne, 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion
Lance-Sergeant Ellis Wellwood Sifton, 18th (Western Ontario) Battalion
Private John George Pattison, 50th (Calgary) Battalion
Captain Thain Wendell MacDowell, 38th (Ottawa) Battalion

At least two Orders Pour le Mérite, the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order, were awarded to German commanders for their actions during the battle:

Oberstleutnant Wilhelm von Goerne commander of the 261st Prussian Reserve Infantry Regiment, of the German 79th Reserve Division.
General of the Infantry Georg Karl Wichura commander of the VIII Reserve Corps and Gruppe Souchez.

Following the defeat, the Chief of the German General Staff, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, ordered the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL, Supreme Army Command) to conduct a court of inquiry into the defensive collapse of the Arras sector.

The court concluded that the 6th Army headquarters had disregarded frontline commander reports, noting a possible imminent attack and as a result, reserve units were kept too far back to execute a timely and effective counterattack.

Commander General Ludwig von Falkenhausen failed to apply an elastic defense properly. Instead, the defensive system was a series of unmoving strong points and static lines of resistance, which the Allied artillery ultimately isolated and destroyed.

As a result of the inquiry, Hindenburg removed Falkenhausen from his command and transferred him to Belgium where he served the remainder of the war as that country's Governor General.