Recreating a great moment in history
Friday, December 15, 2006

Soldiers from Shilo are filmed re-enacting an attack for a documentary film on Vimy Ridge, in the remains of trenches dug in 1915 by troops who fought at Vimy.

SHILO, Manitoba – One of the most important achievements of the First World War was the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge in France on April 9th, 1917. With no successful Allied advances being made on the frontlines for over two years, a plan conceived by Canadian Army commanders to take Vimy Ridge was approved, with some reluctance.

With the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge coming up, the History Channel is making a documentary film to explain how the Canadians were able to achieve what seemed unachievable. Soldiers from the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were used as re-enactors for a segment depicting an assault on German trenches.

Troops in Shilo stand on remnants of trenches used for training soldiers for trench warfare during the First World War.

The bold plan at Vimy involved weeks of rehearsals and ended with an assault on the ridge by forty-nine Canadian infantry battalions, supported by an additional eight British infantry battalions, and a creeping barrage by 1100 artillery pieces. The result was staggering; the Canadians captured more ground, prisoners, and equipment than had been possible in the previous two and a half years, all in one day.

The battle continued for several days and the Canadians were able to hold their ground giving Allied Forces their first major victory of the war. Breaking the stale-mate led to further successes, and ultimately the defeat of the German Army.

Matt Gallagher, Director of the film, explained to the soldiers from Shilo that filming had already been done in France, and that their modern uniforms wouldn’t look out of place. He said, ”We’ll be using graphics and morphing you guys. Just do what you’d normally do, and it’ll look great.”

As filming started the soldiers took positions in the remnants of trenches as old as those at Vimy Ridge. Men, who would eventually fight there after training in Manitoba, dug them in 1915. They are somewhat overgrown now, no longer as deep as they originally were, but would still provide effective cover in battle to this day.

Troops from Shilo re-enact a battle at Vimy Ridge for a documentary film.

Marc George, the Director of the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum in Shilo attributes a large part of the success at Vimy to new tactics introduced by the Canadians. ”It was the first large scale operation using the new platoon tactics. Platoons were given clear objectives, and had been re-structured to include a lot more flexibility and fire-power.”

Instead of platoons of soldiers with bolt-action rifles leaving the trenches in waves and advancing upright towards the enemy, platoons were organised to be integral fighting units moving in bounds. A section of machine gunners would lay-down covering fire, another section firing rifle-grenades would provide support, and a section of grenadiers would advance with the riflemen. As trenches were cleared, another section would secure them, allowing the advance to continue.

It was the end of human-wave style warfare and the introduction of modern techniques that gave small units the flexibility to use their initiative to seize clear objectives.

Marc George said, “the film company is going to show why Canadians were able to succeed when no-one else could, why we won, why Vimy was so important to us as a nation then, and why it is still important to us now.”

The documentary should be aired in April of 2007 to coincide with the anniversary of the victory at Vimy Ridge.

Article and photos by Sgt Dennis Power