Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60A 100 Year Salute to Vimy Ridge A 100 Year Salute to Vimy Ridge The shoulder straps of the three regiments of the 79th Prussian Division. German clip of bullets (right) and one Canadian bullet (left) found in the Vimy sector in the late ‘90s. The highest award in the Commonwealth, the Victoria Cross. Four Canadians received this decoration. The highest award issued in the German army in WWI, one of which was won by Lt. Col. Wilhelm Von Gorne of the 261st regiment for the defence of Vimy Ridge. By Gary Roncetti CD, Special to Focus on Scugog but were substantial. The Canadians took over 4,000 prisoners. The German High Command took the loss of Vimy Ridge very hard because it had laid open the lines east of Vimy. Five men from Port Perry were killed at Vimy on the first day of the Battle. Their names appear on the Port Perry town memorial. They are: 724604 Pte. J. Laidlaw, 38th Battalion; 724602 Pte. A.W. Shackleford, 20th Battalion; 724075 Pte. J.C. Sumner, 20th Battalion; 745206 Pte. R. Tremeer, 19th Battalion; 805199 Sgt. J. Wootton, 75th Battalion. Ptes. Laidlaw, Shackle- ford and Sumner all enlisted together in the 109th Battalion in Lindsay, Ont. in 1916. All three were killed in action at Vimy on the same day. Ptes. Sumner and Shackleford are buried together in a common grave cemetery known as “Zivy Crater”. There are 53 soldiers buriedthere,50ofwhomareCanadian. The highest award for valour that could be awarded to a Canadian sol- dier was the Victoria Cross. Seventy were awarded to Canadians during WWI. Four of these were awarded to Canadians for the Battle of Vimy Ridge. They are: 427586 Pte. Wm. Milne, 16th Battalion, killed in ac- tion; 53730 L/Sgt. Ellis Siffton, 18th Battalion, killed in action; 808887 Pte. John Pattison, 50th Battalion, survived Vimy but was killed in ac- tion the 3rd of June 1917; Capt. Thain MacDowell, 38th Battalion, survived the war, died in 1960 in Brockville, Ontario. The last Canadian soldier to fight at Vimy Ridge was 814924 Pte. Charles Reader, 7th Battalion. He died in 2003 at the age of 105 years. The highest award for valour in the German army was the “Pour Le Merite” (the Blue Max). During WWI, 533 were awarded to the German army. One of these was awarded to: Lt. Col. Wilhelm Von Gorne, officer commanding the 261st regiment of the 79th Prussian Division for the defense of Vimy Ridge. The German soldiers who fought at Vimy referred to themselves as a “Vimy Kampfer” (Vimy Fighter). German survivors of the 261st regiment meeting in Berlin in August 1922 displayed their battle honour banner. The central name on the banner is “Vimy”. Although they lost at Vimy they deemed it an hon- our to have fought there. The German soldier was a formidable foe who did not give up easily. In 1922, the French government ced- ed to Canada, in perpetuity, 250 acres of the Vimy battlefield. The Canadian government held a competition for the design of a memorial. Walter Allward of Toronto won the competition. In 1925 work began on the memorial. It took 11 years to complete. On The 26th of July 1936 King Edward VIII unveiled the Vimy Memorial. The memorial has over 11,000 names of Canadian soldiers killed and missing in France and has no known grave. For all the soldiers that fought atVimy Ridge: All gave some - - - Some gave all. LEST WE FORGET FOCUS - APRIL 2017 15