Vimy Ridge and a search for an ace

Being a public holiday we decided not to go the quickest way via the autoroute to Vimy but took the back roads passing several monuments on the D947 from Estaires to the Lens by pass – the Indian Memorial at La Bombe followed quickly by the Portuguese Military Cemetery. Heading south as the A21 then A211 become the N17 you pass Avoin and as the road curves round to the right you get your first sight of the two gleaming white pillars on the ridge from the road. At Vimy-Givenchy-en-Gohelle you start your climb to the summit and the huge memorial park, gifted by the people of France in perpetuity to Canada.

Canadian memorial

The monument itself has, in the last few years, been completely renovated. The statues were removed (they are in sections) and cleaned and many of the stones that form the base and rise by a steps to the pillars were replaced by the nearest that could be found that matched the original and were of suitable quality from Croatia. The base is carved with the names of the 11,285 officers and men who died in France and have no known graves.

Bronze map of lines

To the right and back from the monument is a bronze plaque showing the Canadian and German lines prior to the battle at Vimy Ridge on 19 April 1917. Driving a half a mile or so to the east of the monument on a road through the park with the pine woods either side, cordoned off with warnings of danger (unexploded mines), you reach another car park with access to the Welcome Centre and sections of the trenches and tunnels which can be visited.

Preserved trenches

The Centre is staffed by young Canadians and our guide a young student from Winnepeg, Manitoba took us through the Canadian and German trenches. The Grange Tunnel wasn't open due to flooding from the recent heavy rains. At this point the German and Canadian trenches were only a few 100 metres apart. A labyrinth of tunnels leading up to the ridge (most about a mile long) allowed soldiers to rally in relative safety prior to action. Mines were blown in the middle of no man's land and then the Canadians surged forward to dig in near the German front lines. From here they launched their attack and eventually pushed forward to take the ridge an important strategic point commanding the Douia plain. We were able to go in the trenches and view a step off point.

French National Memorial & Cemetery

Retracing our steps to Givenchy we took the road to Notre Dame de Lorette, the French National Memorial and Cemetery. The cemetery covers 62 acres and holds nearly 40,000 graves. As well as a basilica the cemetery has a lighthouse tower. At night apparently a searchlight at its top constantly rotates and shines. The basilica, roman in style, stands on the spot where a church once stood.

tower, French National Memorial

There is a very ornate and beautiful mosaic of Christ with outstretched arms behind the altar and stained glass windows either side of the nave. Between the basilica and the tower there is the base for a perpetual flame which wasn't lit on the day that we visited. Unlike the British cemeteries the graves are marked with crosses not tablets of stone. I wondered what would happen if you were Jewish and then I saw a single tablet in a row of crosses marked with the star of David and I had my answer.

We crossed the road to the orientation tablet and from there we confirmed what Rick had already guessed, the relative position of Vimy. This ridge also held a commanding view of the Douai plain.

Captain Ball's grave

I'd noticed when we were planning the day that Rose Coombs' book had suggested a detour to visit the grave and crash site of Captain Alan Ball, a young man from Lenton, Nottingham. Britain's highest scoring fighter ace who achieved 44 victories before Lothar Von Richthofen (Manfred's brother) claimed to have shot him down (despite apparently actually being forced to the ground himself seconds before with a punctured fuel tank having been chased by Ball into a cloud) near Anoeullin, north west of Lens. He was only 20 when he died and there was apparently no evidence of battle wounds.

Captain Ball crash site

The current theory is that he got disorientated in the cloud and emerged upside down at 200 feet with no room for manoeuver. Since we had taken the trouble to visit Manfred's crash site it seemed only right that we should do so for Alan. We found his grave easily enough from the directions in the book but spent 45 mins or so trying to locate the crash site. Just as we found it we were about to pull in when the car in front of us pulled to a halt. The lady driver got out and asked us if we were looking for Alan's grave. Bless her, she had seen the GB number plate and guessed that we were looking for him. The village or, I should say, small town of Annouellin hasn't forgotten him. They named their College after him in 1999 and I understand that to this day his grave is still tended by relatives of Mme Cecille Deloffre, a young Frenchwoman who ran to Ball's aid in his final moments.

Marker stone with Cemetery in distance to left of the large building

The crash site itself is not marked at the roadside and is in a field of potatoes some way in near a small copse; although marked by a stone, the crops are planted right up to the stone so it is difficult to see but from here you can see the cemetery only a few hundred yards away. He is not forgotten in Nottingham either apparently as he has a statue in Nottingham Castle and a display in the museum there.

Nearing 7 pm so we decided to chance the shorter motorway route back to the campsite. Lucky we weren't going in the opposite direction back to Lille from Dunkerque as the traffic for a large section from junction 6 to 9 was at a virtual standstill!

written by

rickandsuejohnson on August 16, 2011 from Vimy, France

from the travel blog: Paying our respects

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