A detachement of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (red tunics) parade with officers from the French Republican Guard
© AFP/HOOTTAWA (AFP) - They will be led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his family, who will lay a wreath on April 9 at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, near Arras, to honor the memory of Canadian soldiers killed during the epic battle.
This year will be the first time since 1917 that April 9 falls on Easter Monday.
Canadian high school students wearing replica World War I tunics stitched with the name of a soldier who fought in the conflict, as well as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin are also expected to attend the dedication of the newly restored memorial.
The battle "was a critical victory for the Allies in the First World War and it was an important milestone for Canada," Harper said in a statement.
"Our young country came of age as an independent nation that day and I am extremely proud to represent Canada at the 90th anniversary."
At 5:30 am on April 9, 1917, almost 100,000 Canadian soldiers charged the escarpment, which the German army had fortified heavily with trenches, barbed wire, massive artillery and machine-gun nests.
A total 3,598 Canadian Corps troops were killed and 7,004 were wounded over four days of fighting as they seized control of the ridge from German soldiers.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a visit last year to replica World War One trenches in Vimy
© AFP/File Denis CharletThe victory was a strategic breakthrough that had eluded British and French allies for two years.
The battle also marked the first time all four Divisions of the Canadian Corps had gone into battle together.
"In those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation," Brigadier General Alexander Ross, who commanded the 28th Battalion at Vimy, said when a huge memorial was unveiled on the battleground in 1936.
"It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade."
The victory triggered Canadian pride in the courage of its soldiers, from across the continent-wide former British colony, and defined a sense of nationhood.
"When you read soldiers' diaries and letters, it's there, both in print and between the lines ... it was a Canadian victory," historian Ted Barris of Centennial College in Toronto told AFP.
"They were told they'd be fighting for King and (the British) Empire, but they were fighting for Canada, too," he said.
Previously, Canadian soldiers were "essentially farmed out" to Allied armies, he said. Suddenly, they found themselves "standing together in the cold mud" and fighting side by side with Canadian patches on their sleeves.
Replica World War One trenches near the Canadian monument at Vimy
© AFP/File Philippe Huguen"There was an instant connection," he said. "It was very much a band of brothers."
This pride was bolstered by a series of Canadian innovations that "turned military strategy on its head," Barris noted.
For example, Canadians used aerial reconnaissance to triangulate enemy positions, which allowed them to knock out 82 percent of German batteries before the onslaught.
And instead of informing only officers of battle plans, every soldier was briefed on strategy and tactics -- and so could fill any role in case a comrade fell in battle.
More than 600,000 Canadians fought in World War I (1914-1918) and some 66,000 died. Only two Canadian veterans of the conflict are still alive.
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial with its twin pylons towering 30 meters (98 feet) above a sprawling stone platform represents the solidarity of France and Canada, adorned with carved statues symbolizing peace, sacrifice and mourning.
Designed by Canadian architect Walter Seymour Allward, it took 11 years to build but was not dedicated to military conquest and glory. Rather it recalled the legions who sacrificed their lives -- a sentiment never before expressed in war memorials at the time.
Ottawa recently spent 20 million dollars (17.4 million US) to restore it for this occasion.
©AFP