In Depth
Vimy Ridge remembered
90th anniversary special coverage
Commemorating the battle on Radio
Last Updated March 30, 2007
CBC News
CBC Radio
CBC Radio One will provide listeners with a complete roster of programming to commemorate the dedication of the restored Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Friday April 6
- 10:05 a.m. (10:35 a.m. NT) on Sounds Like Canada, Shelagh Rogers gets an update from actor R.H. Thomson on his plans for a moving tribute to the soldiers of Vimy Ridge. Last September, Thomson explained to Rogers how he was working on a major project, collecting stories from the families of Vimy survivors and then retelling them in a new and exciting way. Thomson returns to explain how his campaign turned out.
- 8:35 a.m. (9:05 NT) on The Current guest host, Avi Lewis, a well-known CBC Television journalist, talks to an editor of a provocative new book titled Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment. A group of young military historians take the view that while Vimy Ridge was important to Canada and the war effort 90 years ago, it was not as important as we remember it.
- 9:00 p.m. (9:30 p.m. NT) Ideas tells the story of how 80,000 Canadian soldiers, fighting together for the first time-on Easter Monday, 1917-swarmed up Vimy Ridge in France and seized the heights from an occupying German army. Those young citizen soldiers also breathed life into our fledgling nation. Victory At Vimy, hosted by author and broadcaster Ted Barris. Re-broadcast as a special encore presentation on Monday, April 9 at noon (12:30 NT).
Sunday April 8
- 9:00 a.m. (9:30 a.m. NT) The Sunday Edition re-broadcasts a documentary from Bob Carty called On The Ridge. In 2003, on the eve of America's invasion of Iraq and near the start of Canada's campaign in Afghanistan, Carty visited the Vimy memorial. In the documentary, he explores a yearning by Canadians to connect with their past in a time of war.
- 4 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. NT) Cross Country Checkup talks to Canadians about the importance of Vimy.
Monday, April 9
Coverage on local morning shows from coast to coast to coast. Reporter Laura Lynch will deliver news reports from Vimy Ridge throughout the day.
- 8:35 a.m. (9:05 a.m. NT) The Current brings listeners a story taking place in the shadow of Vimy Ridge. Before the crowds and dignitaries arrive for the ceremonies, a small burial service will take place at nearby La Chaudiere military cemetery. French construction workers near there unearthed the remains of two Canadian First World War soldiers in 2003. Since then a small army of historians, genealogists and forensic experts have worked full-time to identify them. The CBC's Jessica Brando presents Buttons and Bones, a documentary exploring what drives the Canadian Forces quest to give a name and a place in a graveyard to long-gone soldiers, no matter what the cost.
- 10:05 a.m. (10:35 a.m. NT), Sounds Like Canada looks at Vimy with Shelagh Rogers' interview with Jane Urquhart, author of the critically acclaimed book The Stone Carvers, which tells the story of Canadian artisans who built the Vimy Ridge memorial in France in the 1930s. Urquhart will talk about war and remembrance in the light of the Vimy anniversary.
- 6:30 p.m. (7:00 p.m. NT) As it Happens presents voices from the battle of Vimy Ridge.
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- Canadian youths 'twinned' with soldiers killed in battle
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RELATED
CBC Links
Photo Galleries
CBC stories
- Last veteran of Vimy Ridge battle dies
- (March 5, 2003)
- Britain loans Canada Red Ensign carried by Canadians at Vimy Ridge
- (July 17, 2002)
- Canadian youth remember Vimy Ridge
- (April 8, 2002)
- WWI shells force evacuation of Vimy
- (April 14, 2001)
- Remains of Unknown Soldier coming home
- (Nov. 10, 2000)
- Long lost soldier put to rest at Vimy Ridge
- (June 24, 2000)
- Search CBC.ca for Vimy Ridge
CBC archives
- The First World War: Canada Remembers
- CBC/NFB A People's History: 'Pride at Vimy Ridge'
- AUDIO: 1936 radio broadcast: Vimy Ridge Memorial unveiled by King Edward VIII (Runs 5:02)
External Links
- Silent Newsreel: 'Canadians Capture Vimy'
- National Archives of Canada "We Were There"
- Jack Turner Photography Collection
- Veterans' Affairs Canada: Vimy
- Vimy Memorial Vigil project
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