blackbird Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 Just watching on CBC TV at Vimy Ridge 100th anniversary memorial today April 9, 2017 in France. I think 3,500 Canadians lost their lives at Vimy Ridge. The huge sacrifice made there by Canadians represents the freedoms we have today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 No it doesn't, it represents another example of dupes running off to fight their better's battles for them. They say Canada became a nation at Vimy and I have to agree that subservient sycophancy is probably what best defines Canadians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilber Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) 32 minutes ago, eyeball said: No it doesn't, it represents another example of dupes running off to fight their better's battles for them. They say Canada became a nation at Vimy and I have to agree that subservient sycophancy is probably what best defines Canadians. We are such a shitty people living in such a shitty country, created by other shitty people. Edited April 9, 2017 by Wilber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Army Guy Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, eyeball said: No it doesn't, it represents another example of dupes running off to fight their better's battles for them. They say Canada became a nation at Vimy and I have to agree that subservient sycophancy is probably what best defines Canadians. I guess not everyone got the memo.....Vimy was the first time that the Canadian army and it's 4 divisions fought as one group under our own flag, it was Canadians that made the plans, it was Canadians that lead their own troops into battle for the first time, instead of some other nation.....it was the first time we were not subservient to the British army......it was the first time we marched to our own drum...... Edited April 9, 2017 by Army Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) 4 hours ago, Wilber said: We are such a shitty people living in such a shitty country, created by other shitty people. Naw just stupid people. The shitty people are apparently us lefties. 3 hours ago, Army Guy said: ....it was the first time we marched to our own drum...... ...yeah but we were still following the piper wherever he went... Edited April 10, 2017 by eyeball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilber Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 2 minutes ago, eyeball said: Naw just stupid people. The shitty people are apparently us lefties. Naw, just stupid people who have no appreciation for what those who came before them have done and made possible the lives they now enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 I'm pretty sure a lot of our grand-pappies are spinning in their graves aghast at their utter waste of their lives and time that's evidenced by the very same shit still unfolding in the world today - greed for wealth and power by powerful wealthy people - the piper I mentioned above. The War to End All Wars? The War to Rearrange the Deckchairs is more like it. I've been told I should also be thankful due to the millions that have died under the dictatorships we've spawned that help keep us powerful and wealthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilber Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Could also be that they would be wondering why they wasted their time and lives on people who have zero appreciation for what they went through and just look at them as fools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Army Guy Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Wilber: It seems to be the new thing around here lately.....contempt for the military, like we created all these problems and issues.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilber Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Seems so. I guess they have to blame someone (for what I'm not sure) and the military is an easy target because they feel they don't have to take any resposibility for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) Happy centennial of (real) Independence Day, Canada. Edited April 10, 2017 by jbg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 1 hour ago, Army Guy said: Wilber: It seems to be the new thing around here lately.....contempt for the military, like we created all these problems and issues.... It can get even worse, with the lefties and progressives spitting on you while in uniform. Thank you for your service...enjoy a much deserved retirement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August1991 Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) 11 hours ago, blackbird said: Just watching on CBC TV at Vimy Ridge 100th anniversary memorial today April 9, 2017 in France. I think 3,500 Canadians lost their lives at Vimy Ridge. The huge sacrifice made there by Canadians represents the freedoms we have today. About 3000 Canadian soldiers were killed, wounded, captured in Dieppe in 1942. ====== I have been to both Vimy and Dieppe. And Juno Beach. Since this thread is about Vimy Ridge, I have also walked around other battlefields of the Great War (World War I) and many other wars - from Borodino to Marathon. I'm sorry, IMHO, Vimy was not a turning point in WW I. As to turning point: In any battle/dispute, a situation of Team A vs Team B, what decides the battle? Thinking like Tolstoi, Which specific straw makes the camel fall? ==== I am appalled that Justin Trudeau appears at this Vimy Memorial. As he often says, he is "his mother's son". Well, if she had been alive at the time, she would have opposed any participation in the war. His father, born in 1919... Well, that's another story. Edited April 10, 2017 by August1991 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August1991 Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 At Vimy Ridge in 1917, about 3500 Canadian soldiers died among a population of 8 million at the time. At Beaumont-Hamel in 1916, about 700 Newfoundlanders died among a population of 250,000. ===== Nevertheless, I reckon that the mining of June 1917 decided the course of the war. The craters, still today, are visible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 2 hours ago, Wilber said: Could also be that they would be wondering why they wasted their time and lives on people who have zero appreciation for what they went through and just look at them as fools. Quite possibly and I'll certainly acknowledge the horrors that Canadian conscripts went through hell but why remains the issue I have. I don't buy the mythology of which there's plenty. Further to which is that Canadians along with millions of innocent people were killed for the benefit of rich powerful people who were bent on establishing and expanding their empires. That's all it was about, full stop. The real fools are the ones who swallow the notion it was for God, King, Country and now Culture. No. It was entirely for the benefit of people who viewed themselves as their conscripts betters. I think people need to believe it was actually for something noble to take the harsh edge off that reality and fabricate that nobility after the fact out of the deaths and sacrifices of ordinary Canadians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August1991 Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 3 minutes ago, eyeball said: .... The real fools are the ones who swallow the notion it was for God, King, Country and now Culture.... "Real fools"? I don't consider myself a fool. eyeball, even our current federal PM, maybe, doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Trudeau definitely swallows the kool-aid so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilber Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 8 hours ago, eyeball said: The real fools are the ones who swallow the notion it was for God, King, Country and now Culture. No. It was entirely for the benefit of people who viewed themselves as their conscripts betters. I think people need to believe it was actually for something noble to take the harsh edge off that reality and fabricate that nobility after the fact out of the deaths and sacrifices of ordinary Canadians. I don't know what they would feel, I just presented that as an alternate opinion. What they would feel would depend on their individual personalities and experiences. Whatever that might be, they earned the right to feel it. We didn't. All the participants are dead now and can no longer tell us, so feel free to make up whatever you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topaz Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 My hubby had both grfathers fight in WW1. His mothers father got gassed and was sent home and ended up in a hospital were he died..he never saw his only child born...but they named a street after him. Did anyone else have a relative in the war? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 A turning point in WW1 was Cambrai...as such. Tanks used successfully en masse for the first time. The trenches had seen their days. But, really, one of the defining features of WW1 is its lack of turning points. Both sides fought like devils right to the Armistice...and beyond if one counts the Russian Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cambrai_(1917) 10 minutes ago, Topaz said: My hubby had both grfathers fight in WW1. His mothers father got gassed and was sent home and ended up in a hospital were he died..he never saw his only child born...but they named a street after him. Did anyone else have a relative in the war? Several...my father was just a bit too young to see active service but he was training on Lancasters (fixing them) when the Second World War wrapped-up in Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 10 minutes ago, DogOnPorch said: A turning point in WW1 was Cambrai...as such. Tanks used successfully en masse for the first time. The trenches had seen their days. But, really, one of the defining features of WW1 is its lack of turning points. Both sides fought like devils right to the Armistice...and beyond if one counts the Russian Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cambrai_(1917) Several...my father was just a bit too young to see active service but he was training on Lancasters (fixing them) when the Second World War wrapped-up in Europe. He might have known my Uncle, who was a navigator on Lancasters during WWII. Or my Dad, for that matter, who was also too young for active service, but who was at RAF Brize Norton in 1945 with the Engineers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilber Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 22 minutes ago, Topaz said: My hubby had both grfathers fight in WW1. His mothers father got gassed and was sent home and ended up in a hospital were he died..he never saw his only child born...but they named a street after him. Did anyone else have a relative in the war? Mother's father was a sapper in the British army. Joined as a private in 1914 and survived to leave as an officer in 1918. Father served in the RCAF overseas from May 41 till after VJ day. Spent most of his war attached to the RAF, that's how he wound up in Southeast Asia for the last two years of his war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Just now, bcsapper said: He might have known my Uncle, who was a navigator on Lancasters during WWII. Or my Dad, for that matter, who was also too young for active service, but who was at RAF Brize Norton in 1945 with the Engineers. He was training in Calgary at SAIT which handled a lot of aviation programs. Imagine Merlins on test stands rather than attached to bombers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilber Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 3 minutes ago, bcsapper said: He might have known my Uncle, who was a navigator on Lancasters during WWII. Or my Dad, for that matter, who was also too young for active service, but who was at RAF Brize Norton in 1945 with the Engineers. My godfather was a navigator on Lancs. Did quite a few trips. Got the DFC, I think for just surviving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Were there any "white feather girls" in Canada during The Great War....y' know...being British subjects and all until 1947. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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