This year, April 9th, 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.My post today is a different sort of post, however it comes directly from my passion for my Charley Bailey project.
Charley Bailey lost at least one close friend (Jim Ross) at the battle of Vimy Ridge.
Vimy is considered a defining moment in Canadian history. My research of these war years and Charley's life, led me to discover a Canadian project connected with the 100th anniversary of Vimy that fell perfectly in line with the work we do for a living.
My husband David and I have been offering meticulously hand crafted, bespoke wooden rings for almost 15 years. David is the pioneer of the steam bent wood ring. Touch Wood Rings is our primary website. In the course of my WW1 research I came across the story of the Vimy Oaks repatriation project.
David has made hundreds of beautiful Oak wood rings over the years for our Touch Wood Ring clients. We felt it would be an honour and a privilege to offer folks a ring made of this precious Vimy Oak wood. I contacted Jeremy Diamond at the Vimy Foundation who put me in touch with Monty McDonald and the rest, as they say, is history. Learn more about the Vimy Oaks Repatriation Project here.
Vimy Oak, thanks to Monty McDonald and the late Lt. Leslie Miller, is being offered as a Limited Edition Touch Wood Ring commemorating the centenary of Vimy Ridge and the repatriation of Canada's Vimy Oak trees in France. VIMY OAK RINGS
This is the tie clip and cuff link set David created for Monty McDonald as a thank you for providing us with branches from the Vimy Oak trees in Ontario.
If you are interested in commissioning a Vimy Oak Ring or Pin, please drop us an email and visit Vimy Oak Rings.
Some background on the Battle of Vimy Ridge BY PAUL REED Military Historian & author who works in Television: visiting & interpreting battlefields all over the world. www.greatwarphotos.com ww1centenary.net
"The Battle of Vimy Ridge, part of the northern operations of the Battle of Arras, which took place 95 years ago today, was one of the defining moments for Canada in the Great War. Up against formidable objective, all four Canadian Divisions – men from every part of Canada – took the ridge in five days at the cost of just over 10,000 Canadian casualties. Together with success in the British sectors at Arras, the sort of advance experienced on 9th April 1917 had hitherto only rarely been experienced and reflected the change in approach to battle not only in the Canadian Corps but in the British Army on the Western Front as a whole.
For a post-war Canada coming to terms with the lost of more than 66,000 Canadian soldiers in the Great War the fighting at Vimy took on a symbolism hard for others to understand; many felt that it was almost as if Canada as a Nation had come together on the slopes of Vimy Ridge. The French government gave the battlefield to Canada who turned it into a memorial park which today is one of the most visited sites on the Western Front battlefields, and one of the largest areas of preserved WW1 battlefield.
Today’s photograph is an official photograph but taken from a special album of photographs published during the war as part of an exhibition of Canadian war photographs. The photographs were printed in landscape format in quite large scale direct from glass negatives, so the quality is very high. This dramatic image shows Canadian troops going into action 99 years ago on 9th April 1917 – they are men from the 29th Battalion Canadian Infantry who were operating on the southern end of the Vimy front." PAUL REED
This is the tie clip and cuff link set David created for Monty McDonald as a thank you for providing us with branches from the Vimy Oak trees in Ontario.
The first Vimy Oak Ring created for Monty McDonald's daughter; Heather.
It is a tapered Vimy Oak ring with a featured knot, lined with Canadian Maple.
Our Vimy Oak Branches
Some background on the Battle of Vimy Ridge BY PAUL REED Military Historian & author who works in Television: visiting & interpreting battlefields all over the world. www.greatwarphotos.com ww1centenary.net
For a post-war Canada coming to terms with the lost of more than 66,000 Canadian soldiers in the Great War the fighting at Vimy took on a symbolism hard for others to understand; many felt that it was almost as if Canada as a Nation had come together on the slopes of Vimy Ridge. The French government gave the battlefield to Canada who turned it into a memorial park which today is one of the most visited sites on the Western Front battlefields, and one of the largest areas of preserved WW1 battlefield.
Today’s photograph is an official photograph but taken from a special album of photographs published during the war as part of an exhibition of Canadian war photographs. The photographs were printed in landscape format in quite large scale direct from glass negatives, so the quality is very high. This dramatic image shows Canadian troops going into action 99 years ago on 9th April 1917 – they are men from the 29th Battalion Canadian Infantry who were operating on the southern end of the Vimy front." PAUL REED
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