Vimy
If I think about architecture which I have experienced and which has stirred my soul, many images come into my head: Gaudí’s incredible Art Nouveau interpretation of Gothic in the Sagrada Familia; the whimsy and experimentation of Wright’s Home and Office in Oak Park; the wonder of the Parthenon; the quiet splendor of Ephesus; the pure simplicity of Mies’s Barcelona Pavilion; the Louvre Pyramid by I.M. Pei. These all count.
But one place stands out from all the rest. Although I was aware of its importance as a monument, I was unprepared for its power to overtake my emotions. It was a destination on our itinerary slated for the sixth day of our trip, which happened to be April 9, 2015 – an extremely significant date, given our destination, but a bit of a fluke and we realized it only weeks before we left home. We took an early train from Paris to Arras and picked up a rental car, punched the destination in our GPS and made the 13-kilometre trip north out of town.
Arriving at Vimy Ridge is a bit anti-climactic, since visitors are obligated to stop at the park office and get involved in a tour of the trenches and the knobby (now tree-covered) battlefield. It is an important step in understanding trench warfare and the context of the monument.
The Vimy Ridge Memorial is approached from the rear, down a long, straight and very flat walkway. Incredibly, because of its position on the Ridge, there is no backdrop. There is only a plane of green grass, the diminishing perspective lines of the walkway, a white tableau and twin towers rising to the sky. It looks astonishingly simple.
Nearing the monument, you become aware of the first of the carved figures, reclined on either side of the steps – the Mourning Parents. Continue around to the east face of the monument – the front face – and the ground drops away from the Ridge. A 7.3-metre-high wall at the base represents an impenetrable barrier. There are 20 carved figures in all, displaying grief, sadness, hunger, sympathy and disease. There are no charging soldiers, no guns drawn, no cannons ready to fire. Any weapons depicted are silenced. A cannon barrel is draped with olive and laurel branches. A sword is broken over a kneeling soldier’s knee.
The most moving sculpture is that of Canada Bereft or Mother Canada. The towering figure of a cloaked woman looks down on a dying soldier, her chin supported by her left fist. If she were to look up she would see the Douai Plains that the monument faces. But she does not look up.
This is a monument which represents much. It commemorates an event. It promotes peace and the defeat of militarism. It does not glorify war. It promotes pacifism.
Designed in 1921 by Walter Seymour Allward, the monument was unveiled at Vimy on July 26, 1936. Formal ceremonies are held each year at the monument on April 9 to commemorate the battle. Dignitaries from the world over attend and pay thanks to Canada for their role here. This spring marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and again this monument was the focus of our nation.
For me, the visit was a powerful experience, all the more so because our visit coincided with the anniversary of an event that marked Canada’s coming of age. If monuments are intended to remind us of long-ago events and stir our emotions, the Vimy Ridge Memorial is an impressive success.