The battle of Vimy Ridge is etched in Canadian history, but many Canadian soldiers etched their personal stories in the tunnels and caves at Vimy.
Colin Robinson is the honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Montreal Regiment, which is now showing 3D replicas of the carvings created by Canadian soldiers in the soft chalk walls of Vimy.
They carved as they lived below-ground for days, even weeks before the attack on the Germans was launched.
“They didn't have internet back then, they didn't have Game Boys, so they would have used whatever they had on them ... Bayonets, trenching tools that kind of thing,” Robinson said.
The etchings were found in a cave called the Maison Blanche Sous Terrain or Underground White House. It was 10 metres deep and there were hundreds of carvings on its walls.
Some are simple, others much more intricate, but each tell a story of a soldier – some as young as 16 – wanting to leave a mark.
“There was no way that these soldiers didn't know that they there was a very good chance that they could lost their life or be horribly hurt, and so they wanted to be remembered more than anything else,” Robinson said.
With the 100th anniversary of Vimy next year and the tunnels in danger of permanently being lost through erosion, the exhibit is a great way to honour the men who fought there, Robinson said.
“This is a perfect way to do it. We can preserve [the replicas] easily for another 100 years if not more,” he said.
The Vimy Ridge exhibition continues at Royal Montreal Regiment on Ste. Catherine St. in Westmount until April 28, and teachers especially are being encouraged to bring their students by to check it out.
