Trenches and Tunnels at Vimy Ridge

Trenches among the beautiful landscape of France

War pocked land from land-mine bombs

On our way into Paris we stopped at a recreated World War I sight. WWI was a war of trench warfare that was fought in large on the home front of France. The war trenches were re-excavated and all of the original sand bags that lined the trench walls were replaced with cement look-a-likes. As an American it’s hard to comprehend a war being fought on your homeland. Besides Pearl Harbor and until the strikes of terrorism the land of the United States has been fortunate enough to be preserved from war. For miles the pockmarked land reminds the people of France of the devastation that came from World War I. In 1998 the excavation archeologists found a bomb trap that had been there since the great war. It was unbelievable how close the German trenches were to the Canadian trenches. The battle that was at this specific spot went on for 3 weeks. That seems like a long time, especially when they’re so close to each other. Dr. Tate told us a really neat story about the Great War: On Christmas Eve at one of the trench sites the two sides (Germans vs. Scots & British) made a pact to forgo fighting the night of Christmas Eve. Men from both sides came out and met in the middle. Together they sang Silent Night accompanied by bagpipes. Touching story I know.