Jeremy Diamond, the Executive Director for the Vimy Foundation, has the kind of energy and passion that could make anything sound interesting.
The truth is Canada’s coming of age happened at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, whose 100th anniversary is being commemorated on April 9th 2017 in Arras, France. From the Vimyfoundation.ca website:
“The message of Vimy Ridge is one of bravery and sacrifice. The battle, which took place on April 9, 1917, is commonly highlighted as a turning point in Canadian history, where the four Canadian divisions fought together as a unified fighting force for the first time. While 3,598 Canadian soldiers were killed during the battle, the impressive victory over German forces is often cited as the beginning of Canada’s evolution from dominion to independent nation.”
In addition to other planned celebrations on the April 7 – 9th weekend, there will be the unveiling of state-of-the-art Vimy Visitor Education Centre near the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France – a project from Veterans Affairs Canada in partnership with the Vimy Foundation.
One of the many things I learned was the prevalence of the Vimy images as found on the Canadian 20-dollar bill and the inside page of the new passport. The Vimy Foundation even had a fundraising campaign that they called ‘A Vimy for Vimy’. Just one of the many facts I was able to discover with Jeremy Diamond’s help in this entertaining and informative podcast.
If you are looking for more information, visit the Vimy Foundation website: www.vimyfoundation.ca, or on Twitter or Instagram: @vimyfoundation
For more on this and other great stories, make sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download