Thursday, March 28, 2024

Fort Rodd Hill to stage a FREE “Salute to Vimy” program this Saturday

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Parks Canada has announced a special “Salute to Vimy” commemoration at Fort Rodd Hill this Saturday, April 8th.

The National Historic Site will “honour the precise minute when, 100 years ago, the first shots of this Canadian battle were fired in France”.

The free event runs from 6pm to 9pm, and includes music by the 5th Field Regiment, RCA Band, as well as stories by historians and local military re-enactors.  Guests can participate in commemorative craft-making and enjoy hot chocolate around a camp fire.

At 8:30pm, the guns of the 5th Field Regiment, RCA will execute a 100-round rapid fire-barrage.  The program also includes a tribute to Victoria’s own General Sir Arthur Currie. Currie was responsible for developing many of the tactics used during the Vimy Ridge battle.  The four-day battle resulted in over 10,500 men dead and wounded.  Most were Canadians.

Victoria hosted more than one military training camp for WWI soldiers, including barracks for 800 men at Beacon Hill Park, and a rifle range and practice trenches at Clover Point. The trenches were not filled back in until the 1930’s.

Overall, more than 60,000 Canadians died, and 170,000 were wounded in WWI. Worldwide, over 17 million people, military and civilians, lost their lives in the war.

A Salute to Vimy 100

  • When: Saturday, April 8th – 6pm to 9pm
  • Where: Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites – 603 Fort Rodd Hill Road

 

 

 

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