Vimy

Vimy is a farming town, situated some {{convert|6|mi|km|0|order=flip|abbr=off|sp=us}} north of Arras, at the junction of the D51 and the N17 roads. It is situated on the crest of Vimy Ridge, a prominent feature overlooking the Artois region.

The town was first mentioned in 1183 as Viniarcum and was the scene of much fighting during the fourteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among the French, English, Dutch and Spanish forces.

The ridge was the scene of fierce fighting in the First World War. Seized by the Germans in 1914, it was the subject of a French assault in 1915. In 1917 the Battle of Vimy Ridge took place southeast of Vimy and was an important battle of the war for Canadian military history. The town was practically destroyed during the fighting in the area.

{{Main|Canadian National Vimy Memorial}}

File:Vimy Memorial (September 2010) cropped.jpg]]

Set on the highest point of Vimy Ridge, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial is the largest of Canada's war monuments.{{cite web |url=http://www.greatwar.co.uk/french-flanders-artois/memorial-canadian-national-vimy-memorial.htm |title=Canadian National Vimy Memorial, France |author= |date=2015 |website=The Great War UK |access-date=31 March 2017 |quote=The ridge runs in a direction from Givenchy-en-Gohelle in the north-west to Farbus in the south-east.}} In 1922, use of the land for the battlefield park which contains the memorial was granted, in perpetuity, by the French nation to the people of Canada in recognition of Canada's war efforts.{{cite web | title = Canada Treaty Information | publisher = Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade | date = 2002-02-26 | url = http://www.treaty-accord.gc.ca/ViewTreaty.asp?Treaty_ID=102661 | access-date = 2008-01-04 }} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}} {{convert|250|acre|ha|abbr=off|order=flip}} of the former Vimy Ridge battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park which surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches and craters, closed off for public safety.

The project took designer Walter Seymour Allward 11 years to see built. (The total cost was $1.5 million, which is over $20 million in present terms.) King Edward VIII unveiled it on 26 July 1936 in the presence of French President Albert Lebrun and a crowd of over 50,000 including over 6200 Canadian veterans and their families.{{cite journal |last1 = Brown |first1 = Eric |last2=Cook |first2=Tim | title = The 1936 Vimy Pilgrimage | journal = Canadian Military History | volume = 20 | issue = 2 | pages = 33–54| publisher = Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies | date = Spring 2011}}

Following an extensive multi-year restoration, Queen Elizabeth II re-dedicated the monument on 9 April 2007 at a ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the battle. A new $10 million visitor center was completed before the 9 April 2017 commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the battle.{{citation|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/corporate-branding-will-be-subtle-and-tasteful-at-new-vimy-ridge-centre-in-france |title=Corporate branding will be 'subtle' and 'tasteful' at new Vimy Ridge center in France |first=Blair |last=Crawford |date=11 January 2017 |access-date=31 March 2017 |publisher=Ottawa Citizen}} The event was anticipated to be attended by as many as 30,000 people.{{citation |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/31/toronto-photographer-commemorates-vimy-100th.html |title=Toronto photographer to open exhibition to commemorate battle of Vimy Ridge |date=31 March 2017 |publisher=Toronto Star |first=Alicja |last=Siekierska |access-date=1 April 2017 }}

The official ceremony included comments by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Governor General David Johnston as representative of the Monarchy of Canada, Prince Charles as representative of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the President of France François Hollande, and the Prime Minister of France Bernard Cazeneuve.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39541940 |title=Vimy Ridge: Royals commemorate defining WW1 battle |author= |date=9 April 2017 |website=BBC |access-date=9 April 2017}}{{cite web| url=http://gg.ca/document.aspx?id=16771&lan=eng| author=Elizabeth II| title=Message from Her Majesty The Queen on the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge| date=9 April 2017| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=9 April 2017}}

The territory of the commune or local authority of Vimy is urban. It had 4,265 inhabitants in 2017. Historic sites within its boundaries include:

• The church of St. Martin, rebuilt, along with much of the village, after World War I
• The remains of a thirteenth-century castle, destroyed in 1833, now the site of the current town hall

{{Historical populations

| source = INSEE[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-62861#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE

| percentages = pagr

| align = none

|1968 |3272

|1975 |3316

|1982 |3621

|1990 |4581

|1999 |4675

|2007 |4468

|2012 |4252

|2017 |4265

}}

• Horley in Surrey, England.
• Fischach in Bavaria, Germany.

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Vimy}}

{{Pas-de-Calais communes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Communes of Pas-de-Calais

Category:Populated places in Artois