SHADOWS OF WAR: The Canadian National Vimy Memorial

CU The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is Canada's largest and principal overseas war memorial. Located on the highest point of the Vimy Ridge, the memorial is dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and 60,000 Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War and as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers killed in France with no known grave. France granted Canada perpetual use of a section of land at Vimy Ridge in 1922 for the purpose of a battlefield park and memorial. A 100-hectare portion of the former battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park that surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches, craters and unexploded munitions, and are largely closed off for public safety. The memorial took eleven years and $1.5 million ($19.75 million in present terms) to build and was unveiled on 26 July 1936 by King Edward VIII, in the presence of President Albert Lebrun of France and 50,000 or more Canadian and French veterans and their families. Starting in 2004, the monument underwent a major multi-year restoration project, which included general cleaning and the recarving of many inscribed names. Queen Elizabeth II rededicated the restored monument on 9 April 2007 during a ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the battle. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought as part of the Battle of Arras between four divisions of the Canadian Corps and three divisions of the German Sixth Army. (Footage by Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)