72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada - Electric Scotland

HISTORIC GROUND.
in connection with the 72nd was made. It is satisfactory
to note that the transport section never lost the reputa
tion of being the best Transport Section in the 12th Bri
gade, bestowed upon them on this occasion.
The move of the Canadians to the North, in which the
72nd now joined, was part of the general scheme for the
coming spring campaign. A great battle which it was hoped
would break the German front was to be fought between
Arras and Lens. Extending from Arras, northward more
than two-thirds of the way to Lens was the famous Vimy
Ridge, the name of which was soon to echo around the world.
To westerners, accustomed to the mountain heights of Brit
ish Columbia, this hill of 475 feet high might well seem
a low eminence. But it dominated the country for miles
round and the advantage of holding it was one which the
Germans had worked hard to preserve. The Allies side of
the Ridge was of a steeper acclivity than the side held by the
enemy. Here some of the bitterest fighting of the early days
of the war had been waged. The country on the west side
rose in a slope to the summit of the Ridge. The Allied
trenches ran right along within a short distance of the top,
but the top itself was still in German hands, and this gave
them a great advantage. The trenches that the 72nd were
now to occupy and re-occupy were a little way down on the
wrong side of the crest. They could not command the coun
try on the other side, whereas the enemy could see and com
mand miles back over the Canadian positions. It was, there
fore, impossible to approach the Canadian front across the
open. The only way was through long communication
trenches. The Germans had all the advantages of position.
On the east side,
where the ridge drops sharply down, they
w ere able to place their great guns in massive concrete posi
tions, well concealed, sheltered and difficult to reach. Opera
tions against this enormously strong position were begun by
a succession of raids in which the 72nd bore a strenuous
part.