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The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought primarily as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps, of four divisions, against three divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle, which took place from 9 to 12 April 1917, was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French Nivelle Offensive. The objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground along an escarpment at the northernmost end of the Arras Offensive. This would ensure that the southern flank could advance without suffering German enfilade fire. Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day of the attack. The town of Thélus fell during the second day of the attack, as did the crest of the ridge once the Canadian Corps overcame a salient of considerable German resistance. The final objective, a fortified knoll located outside the town of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to the Canadian Corps on 12 April. The German forces then retreated to the Oppy–Méricourt line. Historians attribute the success of the Canadian Corps in capturing the ridge to a mixture of technical and tactical innovation, meticulous planning, powerful artillery support and extensive training, as well as the failure of the German Sixth Army to properly apply the new German defensive doctrine. The battle was the first occasion when all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in a battle together and thus became a Canadian nationalistic symbol of achievement and sacrifice. A portion of the former battleground serves as a preserved memorial park and site of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. ==Background== Vimy Ridge is an escarpment northeast of Arras on the western edge of the Douai Plains. The ridge rises gradually on its western side, and drops more quickly on the eastern side. At approximately in length, and culminating at an elevation of or above the Douai Plains, the ridge provides a natural unobstructed view for tens of kilometres in all directions. The ridge fell under German control in October 1914 during the Race to the Sea as the Franco-British and German forces continually attempted to outflank each other through northeastern France.〔Boire (2007) pp. 52–53〕 The French Tenth Army attempted to dislodge the Germans from the region during the Second Battle of Artois in May 1915 by attacking their positions at Vimy Ridge and Notre Dame de Lorette. The French 1st Moroccan Division managed to briefly capture the height of the ridge but was unable to hold it owing to a lack of reinforcements.〔Boire (2007) p. 56〕 The French made another attempt during the Third Battle of Artois in September 1915 but only captured the town of Souchez at the western base of the ridge.〔Tucker p. 68〕 The Vimy sector calmed following the offensive with both sides taking a largely live and let live approach. In all, the French suffered approximately 150,000 casualties in their attempts to gain control of Vimy Ridge and surrounding territory.〔Turner p. 8〕 The British XVII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng, relieved the French Tenth Army in the sector in February 1916, permitting the French to expand their operations at Verdun.〔Boire (1992) p. 15〕 The British soon discovered that German tunnelling companies had taken advantage of the relative calm on the surface to build an extensive network of tunnels and deep mines from which they would attack French positions by setting off explosive charges underneath their trenches.〔Boire (2007) p. 59〕 The Royal Engineers immediately deployed specialist tunnelling companies along the front to combat the German mining operations.〔 In response to increased British mining aggression, German artillery and trench mortar fire intensified in early May 1916.〔Samuels pp. 200–202〕 On 21 May 1916, after shelling both forward trenches and divisional artillery positions from no less than 80 out-of-sight batteries on the reverse slope of the ridge, the German infantry began operation ドイツ語:''Schleswig Holstein'', an attack on the British lines along a front in an effort to eject them from positions along the ridge.〔 The Germans captured several British-controlled tunnels and mine craters before halting their advance and entrenching their positions.〔〔The Germans grew uneasy about the proximity of the British positions to the top of the ridge, particularly after the increase in British tunneling and counter-mining activities.〕 Small counterattacks by units of the 140th and 141st British Brigades took place on 22 May but did not manage to change the situation.〔 The Canadian Corps relieved the British IV Corps stationed along the western slopes of Vimy Ridge in October 1916.〔Farr p. 147〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Vimy Ridge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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