Friday (April 9) was Vimy Ridge Day. Who knew?
Apparently, Canadians have been celebrating the occasion since 2003, when the day was first declared.
But Friday’s commemoration was special. It also marked the end of an era – the first ceremony to mark the “war to end all wars” that didn’t include a vet from World War One. The last known Canadian vet of that war, John Babcock, died a few months back.
Dignitaries who gathered on Parliament Hill had kind words to say about the sacrifices made by those who fought in a battle that gave birth to a young nation. At least, the giving birth part was the version we were taught in school.
While Canadian history books are filled with stories about our young nation’s heroic achievements in Word War One, many of the battles that have gone down in the annals were not without controversy.
Vimy. The Somme. Verdun. Passchendaele were all on some level tactical blunders that led to massive and unnecessary losses of life among Canadian ranks, thanks to British military dominance, bungling and infighting.
The military objective may have been met, but at enormous costs. Canadians were made to fight by the ghastly tactic of attrition, deliberate full-frontals on near-invincible positions, exposing troops to artillery, machine gun and rifle fire.
Let’s just say avoiding a bloodbath was not among the considerations necessarily when Brit higher ups were mapping out a military strategy.
Back home, meanwhile, the propaganda machine was in full swing with heroic stories about victory.
We speak with pride about Canadian contributions in WW I, but there was a darker side to the proud nationalism.
Canadians flocked by the thousands to enlist not just because they wanted to, but because they were expected to. The military ethos of the time played a massive role in the lives of young boys. Why do you think so many enlisted to fight in both wars were underage?
The peer pressure mixed with social pressure was immense. Back in those days cadet training and military drilling in church basements on Saturday nights was commonplace for thousands of Canadian boys. Onward Christian soldier indeed.
War. What is it good for? It’s difficult to find anything ennobling about the needless sacrifice of tens of thousands of lives, whatever the cause. But it’s also worth remembering the horror.
Modern warfare, by comparison, is so antiseptic, one big video game, in many instances, with little real hand-to-hand combat and fought with bombs and missiles fired from hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles away.
The human costs are near invisible and, as a result, hard to quantify for all but those directly involved. Out of sight, out of mind. That’s the way we like our wars today.[rssbreak]
