The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 23

Mull fiar Tjknirdl Sedbkam THE STAR GOES HOME THE STAR GOES HOME WINDSOR, ONTARIO, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1936 ri I' A iA 1 i I 5 'V vx i -3 -JS i i. ft 5 i 1 v- Hi 4 1 tJ fcJL lj A LA A La '--4 Perpetual Sentinel of the Ridge Stormed by Canadian Troops 19 Years Ago Vets Visit Battlefields On Somme Return For Memorial Dedication Courcelette Is 3Iecca Of "Old Sweats" PVoni Canada Tlie KinS Will Unveil Ionument on Ridge Tomorrow 1916 Cr a Land at Two Ports in a i sl Party Proceeds to Arras After Visitinjr Scenes Around Lille IK I By Capt. Murray, M.C C'aaadlaa Irra Staff Writer ARRAS. France, July 25. A peacetime host of 6,000 Canadians converged late today on this city and on Albert, 22 miles to the south, as they returned to the scene of a wartime military victory Vimy Ridge.

PROCEED TO LTLLE Nearly two-thirds of Canada's 6,000 pilgrims, disembarking this morning from three liners at Le Havre, proceeded to LUle. manufacturing metro-polls of Northern France. Brought there by special trains, the pilgrims made T.tlle and Ypres their centre for various battlefield tours before proceeding to Arras. Other pilgrims from the two vessels tthich docked at Antwerp went to Lille for the night. Early tomorrow they will leave by bus for Vimy Ridge to participate in the unveiling by King Edward VIII of the national memorial at 2:30 pm.

Sunken Roads of Region No Longer Reek Of War's Horrors ALBERT, France, July 25. In spite of crowded hours today many Canadian pilgrims found time to visit the Somme Battlefields, the portal to which is this restored town of Albert. The Canadians were well acquainted with the crumbling ruins of 1916; but today they saw a town from which most of the scars of war have been erased. VISIT COURCELETTE The Mecca of the Canadian pilgrims in this neighborhood was Courcelette. Old Soldiers, remembering "the jagged rubble-heap of La Boiselle." three miles up the Bapaume Road, saw again in their mind's eye the mine crater again ghastly with protruding limbs of dead men, the shell-pitted road to Contalmaison, and the pockmarked flank of Pozieres Ridge.

On the crest of this eminence the Canadians relieved the Australians on the last day of August. 1916. Arriving from Ypres Salient, where for many months they had accustomed themselves to being over-looked by the enemy on the ridges above, they accepted with manifest pleasure a situation which enabled them to see the enemy's back country, to look down on the valley of the Ancre River and count their own shells bursting in Grandcourt and Miraumont. On September 9, 1916. came their first attack on the Somme, the capture in daylight, without preliminary bombardment, of the last remaining SW mtmT ww Atl portion of Pozieres Ridge held by the enemy.

This paved the way for the Borden Urges Heed to Dead unday's Prog ram T)OINTlNG majestically and reverently toward the heavens, I this magnificent memorial to the heroism of Canadians in the World War will be unveiled tomorrow by King Edward. More than 6,000 Canadian veterans, pilgrims to the shrine at Vimy, will witness the Impressive sight as the draped flag drops from the gleaming white pillars. The memorial is situated at the crest of Vimy Ridge, where the Canadian army won undying fame when, on Easter Monday morning, In 1917, after a barrage which for days had battered enemy trenches, they charged the heights, took them and held on. Central Press Canadian Photo "VTar Victim Are Asking AsJics of Crosses. Shields at Vimy By Canadian Press Ashes of remembrance will be strewn on Vimy Ridge by Captain Gordon Rochester, of Ottawa.

He will scatter at the base of the Memorial ashes from the burning of small wooden crosses or "Shields of David," inserted each Poppy Day in the foreground of the replica of Ypres Cloth Hall, recreated at Ottawa by the Canadian Legion branch. The ceremony follows the practice of the British Legion. The urn in which the ashes were conveyed to France will be deposited for safekeeping in the cathedral at Arras. At Vimy Division, on the extreme left, encountered a difficult situation. The Pimple, a huge mound honeycombed with" subterranean tunnels, was a deadly trap.

Mear.while the early morning rain had turned into snow flurries. At the first objectives the Canadians halted and dug in. The attack went on. With machine-like precision the vast wave swept over, taking up the advance where the others left off. The infantry were now out of ranee of their field-gun barraee.

The light artillery had already limbered up. and the guns were beinsr galloped forward. From the crest of the ridge, the whole Plain of Douai lay at the feet of the triumphant Canadians. CAPTURE -PIMPLE" The Pimple continued to be the scene of bitter fighting; but darkness fell with that position still held by the Germans. The victory, however, was almost complete.

It was clear the Pimple would yield only to an assault preceded by a heavy bombardment; and for two days the matter rested. But at 5 a.m. on April 12 the 4th Division again attacked. This time they made no doubt of success. The operation was completely successful, and the whole of Vimy Ridge as now in possession of the Canadians.

Facts On 61 Canadians Won V. C. By Canadian Press Sixty-one officers and other ranks of the Canadian Corps (and the Canadian Cavalry Brigade) won the Victoria Cross during the Great War. Twenty-six of these were born in Canada, as follows: Ontario, 10; Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, 3, and British Columbia. 1.

Vimy Ridge SIGNPOSTS GONE The sunken roads of Courcelette today were no longer poisonous with the stench of ily-blown corpses, nor were there shell holes on whose water-logged surface floated a green scum. The little cardboard signposts which the Canadians called "Maple Leaf Road" have long since disappeared from the route that used to lead past the Sugar Refinery, across Candy Trench and into the village. But one could still establish time and place even if with some difficulty for the feats of incredible bravery around the Fa beck Graben, Mouquet Farm, Thiepval, Hessian, Kenora and Regina Trenches. The national memorial at Courcelette is a simple slab, standing in its own park amid beautiful sourround-ings. encouraging forgetfulness of the horrors of the Somme and stimulating only a memory of great-hearted, cheerful and intrepid Canadian youths who offered all they possessed for an Ideal.

The Amiens battlefields were not neglected, for at Le Quesnel, 16 miles southeast of Amiens on the Roye Road, stands the most southerly of the Canadian memorials, in design and general lay-out not greatly different from those at Courcelette, Dury, Bour-lon and Passchendaele. The pilgrim re-told the incidents of August 8, 1918. "EIGHTH OF THE EIGHTH' In the misty dawn on "The Eighth of the Eighth" the Canadians attacked. In their stride they captured De-muin, Aubercourt, and Marcelcave, Wiencourt, Cayeaux, and Ignaucourt fell before them. Before midday the victorious Canadians were in possession of Calx and Beaucourt.

near the northern and southern extremity of their advance. They had penetrated more then seven miles, and next day they pushed forward an almost equal distance. Before the Amiens fighting slowed up. they had established themselves close to the outskirts of Roye. Stories of these spacious days were told and retold today as the pilgrims radiated from Albert to dwell for a brief space in the valley of their receding youth.

They remembered the "Hanging Virgin" and its legend. Jn the war days German shells had WTeaked havoc on the famous church, toppling from its steeple the Virgin, holding aloft the Christ-child. The figures did not fall, but leaned out over the street at a direct right angle. Fertile minds, on all fours with those who had seen the "Angels of Mons," concocted the legend that "when the Hanging Virgin falls the war will end." Coincidence operated to the fulfilment of the "prophecy." In 1918 Albert fell into German hands, but in the ensuing British offensive a shell from a British battery hit the church steeple, and sent the figures crashing to the ground. Within three months the war was ended.

Living to Keep Peace And Liberty LONDON, July 25. Before leaving for the Vimy celebrations in France on Sunday. Sir Robert Borden, wartime prime minister of Canada, eave the Canadian Press the following message: "Around the stately memorial at Vimy we shall be gathered in solemn but proud tribute to the sacrifice and achievement it commemorates. It will long endure but no longer, we trust, than the memory enshrined in our hearts. We.

the living, shall not stand there alone but in the mist of a vast concourse, a mighty congregation of the dead who will be with us and of us and whose voices, inaudible the dull sense of flesh, speak ceaselessly to those whose spirit is attuned to these memories. "But in vain are those voices and fruitless sacrifice unless we. the living, consecrate ourselves anew to the purpose and endeavor that liberty shall endure, that public right shall prevail, that peace and goodwill among men and between nations shall be abiding upon earth. "So may God direct us." Throughout the war the City of Lille beckoned the Allied armies, situated as it was within only a few miles of the front line trenches. For the German occupants it was a city of refuge, for the Allies never bombarded it.

During the winter of 1915 many Canadians got fleeting glimpses of Lille. These momentary visions occurred usually when they were route-marching across the ridge at Mont Noir or Mont des Cats whose trappist monks still remember the Canadian soldiers. Annually on Armistice Day a wreath from this Monastery is deposited on the cenotaph in Ottawa. SEEN FROM MONT KEMMEL From the slopes of Mont KemmeL where the Canadians held watch and ward for many months. Lille could be seen 18 miles away, on the plain.

Radiating from Lille the pilgrims tocUy were able to revisit in leisurely fashion many of the towns and villages which loomed large in their scheme of things during the days when they fought in and around Ypres salient. Armentieres Neuve Eslise Dranoutre a 1 lie 1 Locre Renin-ghelst Westoutre Ouderdom Poper-inghe Dickebuscti all had their place In the Canadian Gazetteer. This afternoon Alex Ross, Dominion president of the Canadian legion, and the official Legion party, were proceeding from Arras to Valenciennes. 45 miles away, to attend the ceremony of inaugurating the street named after Sergeant Hugh Cairns, V.C. Hundreds of those here to witness tomorrow's ceremony at Vimy Ridge took part In the historic battle of April 8.

1917. To them the story Is old: but to many others Vimy was only a name. Now that they are on the ground they listen avidly as the survivors of Vtmy relived their role of those remote days. RCMORS OF OFFENSIVE The Canadians came to Vimy from the Somme In October. 1916.

Within a few months vague rumors Indicated a spring offens and these were confirmed wl all the harbingers of attack began to flock into the villages of Artols. The preliminary a dment which swept the enemy's earthworks and wire obstructions started late In March. The date for the offensive was set for Easter Monday. April 9. On Easter Sunday, following brief church parades, the attacking battalions swung out of their billets and trudged to the preliminary assembly areas.

There they were issued with battle equipment shovels, sandbags, bombs and flares. The final Jumping-off positions had already been reconnoltered. and at nightfall the assaulting troops were directed thither. For hours the men lay silently and patiently under a drizzling rain. At 5.30 am.

a thundering crash heralded the barrage. Countless brilliant flashes lit up the country, flickering and dancing across the sky as hundred-, of guns belched out the barrage. The infantry leaped from their positions, and the great assault began. GERMANS SURPRISED From the German trenches rockets and flares were shot high in the aula frantic appeal to the artillery. Throbbing mine explosions chook the earth, their huge tongues of flame mingling with the flashes of shrapnel and high-explosive.

Above the din rose the crackling of machine gun and rifle fire. The Canadian infantry ploughed through the chaos of No Man's Land and swept into the enemy trenches. Here was the one storied occasion, never to be repeated, when all four Canadian divisions fought In line. From right to left, the 1st (Currie), the 2nd (Burstall). the 3rd (Lipsett) and the 4th (Watson.

swung Into attack the whole might of Canada, commanded by General Sir Julian Byng. plunging across Vimy Ridge. Sandwiched between the 3rd and 4th Divisions, to take care of a gap which later operations would create, was the Wth Brigade of the 5th (Imperial! Divtslon. The 1st. 2nd and 3rd Divisions made i (Memorial OFFERS COLLECTIOV AMHERST.

N. July 25. James Horton, Amherst barber and curio collector, will submit his collection of firearms and Indian relics to the Historic Sites and Monuments Board for use in the Fort Beausejour museum being opened August 1. "LORD'S" STATION St. John's Wood railway station England is to be renamed "Lord's." The Canadian Memorial on Vimy Ridge was designed by Walter S.

All-ward, architect, of Toronto, and was in course of construction for 12 years. The work was performed under the direction of the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission, of which Major-General S. C. Mewburn, Hamilton, is chairman. Unveiling is to take place at 3:12 p.m.

tomorrow, with King Edward VIII officiating. The pilgrimage of approximately 6.000 Canadian war veterans and Mass of Detail Involved In Attack on Vimy Ridge CANAL LINKS SEAS A canal now connects the Baltic and White seas, making it possible for ships to go from Leningrad to Archangel without the long northern trip around Scandinavia. I others to Vimy Ridge was organized Valenciennes Today Names Street After Canadian V. C. OTTAWA.

July 25. Final details of the official program for unveiiinp the Canadian Memorial on Vimy Ridge Sunday were made public here yesterday. They will begin at 2:10 p.m. (8.10 a.m., Windsor time.) Following fcs the official order of the ceremony with the approximate duration of each event: Introductory commentary by the announcer. Five minutes.

Arrival of the King, the royal salute, "God Save the King" and Canada," with music by the band of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, inspection of the guards. Twenty minutes. Arrival of President Lebrun of France, his reception by His Majesty, royal salute from the band playing "La Marseillaise." Five minutes. Procession to the dais during which two squadrons of the Royal Air Force and two squadrons of the French Air Force will fly over the memorial in an air salute. Five minutes.

Memorial addresses by Rev. Cecil C. Owen, Vancouver; Rev. G. O.

Fallls, Toronto, and Rev. E. A. Deschamps, Montreal, with "Flowers of the Forest" by the Canadian pipers. Ten minutes.

Message from Prime Minister King, read by Major the Hon. C. G. Power. Two minutes.

Address by Hon. Ernest Lapointe, representative of Prime Minister King. Four minutes. Address by Hon. Ian Mackenzie minister of national defense.

Four minutes. Address and unveiling by His Majesty the King. Five minutes. The "Last Post," two minutes silence and Reveille. Four minutes.

Address by President Lebrun. Four minutes. "Land of Hope and Glorv." by the band, presentation of distinguished visitors to President Lebrun by His Majesty, "La Marseillaise" and "God Save the King." His Majesty and President Lebrun will place wreaths on the memorial and leave together, after which Major Power will place the wreath from the Governor-General of Canada, followed by other WTeath bearers in order of precedence. 2,796 LANGUAGES The actual number of languages being spoken in the world is 2,796, according to records computed by the French academr. The Chinese language is spoken by more persons than any other.

The total is estimated at in orders, which (had to be rigidly adhered to. In the haversack men were ordered to carry: One spare oil-tin (for the rifle). Iron rations these consisted of a small package containing one tin of bully beef, two "hard-tack" biscuits, a small bag of sugar and one of tea. One field dressing, comprising an absorbent pad wrapped up in sterilized bandage, and a small bottle of Iodine. Two Mills No.

5 bombs. Each rifleman carried 170 rounds of ammunition; two airplane flares, to be lit from the ground at the various objectives to indicate their position to the airmen: two sandbags; extra rations for 24 hours (bully beef and hard-tack) one filled water-bottle. A total of 32 heavy wire-cutters were issued to each battalion. Picks and shovels were carried by most of the personnel. Twelve "S.O.S." flare signals were carried by each company.

Two "battle flags" were carried by each platoon. They were not to be stuck in the ground, but were to be waved over the head to indicate to artillery observers the position of the advance troops. Battalion escorts for prisoners-of-war were not to exceed 10 per cent, of the number of prisoners. This duty was usually performed by slightly wounded men, returning to the first aid posts. Officers and men were strictly for- By Canadian Press rjTHE storming of Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917, had a great deal more to it than the assault of troops under a screen of artillery fire.

The staff work was as perfect as human intelligence could make it. Every emergency was provided for. Here are some particulars for infantry battalions on that point: The attack was taken in four stages, and each projected advance was indicated on maps by J'nes of various colors. The first objective was the "Black the second, the "Red the third, the "Blue Line," and the fourth, the "Brown Line." The assaulting troops -were divided into "waves." A wave consisted of two lines of men, extended to a distance of four or five yards from each other. The first line of the wave was normally from 20 to 25 yards in advance of the second line.

At Vimy Ridge the first line comprised riflemen and bombers; the second line grenadiers and Lewis gunners. This distribution was not, however, arbitrary. The distance between waves was from 50 to 100 yards. "Moppers up" were troops who, following the second wave, dealt with dug-outs in which the enemy might still be lurking, thus permitting the assaulting waves to continue their advance. Each wave had a definite objective allotted to it.

-r-CT-l- fa-rHp fi-ric jnr if by the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League, and directed by the National Vimy Pilgrimage Committee composed of representatives of national veterans' organizations. Canadian official representatives: Hon. Ernest Lapointe. minister of justice; -Hon. Ian A.

Mackenzie, minister of national defense; Hon. C. G. Power, minister of pensions. Guests of Canada: Right Hon.

Sir Robert and Lady Borden; Right Hon. Sir George and Lady Perley; Sir Eugene Fiset, wartime deputy minister of national defense; Lady Byng, widow of victor of Vimy, and Lady widow of Sir Arthur. Arrangements were made by Hon. Phillippe Roy, Canadian minister in Paris, and staff of the Canadian legation. Representative of France: President Albert Lebrun.

Guard of Honor: Bluejackets from H.M.C.S. Saguenay. Civilian Guard of Honor: One hundred Canadian war veterans from the pilgrimage party. Brass band from the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. Pipe band selected from various Highland regiments of Canadian militia.

Bugle band from the Canadian permanent force. Drummers from 48th Highlanders of Toronto. Chaplains One Anglican, one United yALENCIENNES, France, July 25. Today an aged mother and father from faraway Saskatoon will stand in the Hotel de Ville at Valenciennes and listen to words uttered in a foreign tongue, praising the greatness and the bravery of their dead son. Mr.

and Mrs. George Cairns, residents of that Saskatchewan city for upwards of 25 years, hold the place of honor. Valenciennes is paying homage this afternoon to the memory of the late Sergeant Hugh Cairns. V.C, of the 46th Canadian Battalion. It became known some months ago that the cirizens.

having become appraised after many years of the outstanding role played by this young Canadian sergeant in the liberation of the city, were desirous of perpetuating his memory. In a gracious gesture they decided to name one of the principal streets of Valenciennes in his honor. The formal rechristening was made to synchronize with the pil bore the dead hero. They, therefore, made it possible for the aged couple to join the pilgrimage. Alex.

Ross, Dominion president of the Canadian Legion, and members of the official Legion party were coming from Arras this afternoon to take part in the ceremony. Arras is about 42 miles from here. Instrumental in promoting the idea was Gabriel Plerard of this city. Some time ago Mr. Pierard issued a brochure dealing with the liberation of Valenciennes.

The material was extracted and translated from a well-known Canadian war history treating of the last hundred days of the Great War. Relating the Battle of Mount Houy on November 1. 1918. which resulted in the capture of Valenciennes, and the "part of the Fourth Canadian Division in that engagement. Mr.

Pierard noted the deeds performed on that day by Sergeant Cairns In the streets of Marly, a suburb of the city. He suggested Valenciennes name a street after the Canadian hero. The treet selected was l'Avenue de la Tourelie. which runs from near the Mongrel Pup Gets Trial Def ence Fund ROCHESTER, N. July 25.

A steady trickle cf contributions, from bills to the pennies and nickels of school children, rolled into the Rochester Dog Protective Association yesterday for the defense of Idaho, Brockport's killer dog. Public interest in the mongrel pup continued to grow as Idaho romped in the shelter near Scottsville. Idaho is charged with causing the grimage of Canadian servicemen and others to Vimy Ri Ige. Reacting warmlv to the distinction, th? citizens cf Ijaskatorn ensured I Diaaen to carry any letters, papers, I orders or sketches which, in the event drowning of Mm( ChiTrrh nf Canada nnri mr Bnman centre Of the city toward Fanars and that the ceremony should be graced.