Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais

The Vimy Memorial overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge. Located north of Arras in France, the Vimy Memorial is Canada's largest overseas National Memorial. It commemorates more than 11,000 men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force killed during the First World War in France and who have no known grave. Many of them died in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought from 9 to 12 April 1917. Many consider it a turning point in Canadian history, where the four Canadian divisions fought together. The Battle of Arras began on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917, and saw the four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting side by side for the first time. They scored a huge tactical victory in the capture of the 60 metre high Vimy Ridge. After the war, the highest point of the ridge was chosen as the site of the great memorial to all Canadians who served their country in battle during the First World War, and particularly to the 54,000 who gave their lives in France and Belgium.