Heritage: Vimy Circle

TORONTO, ONTARIO - On this Vimy Ridge Day nationally in Canada, it seemed appropriate to pay a little attention to a monument to this day that was never constructed--Vimy Circle.

I first learned about Vimy Circle from "Unbuilt Toronto" author Mark Osbaldeston's presentation to the Swansea Historical Society in February. Vimy Circle, which would have been located at modern-day University and Richmond, would have been a large roundabout, surrounded by Romanesque architecture with a monument to the battle at Vimy Ridge in the center.

The latest issue of Spacing magazine included more information on Vimy Circle, which was part of a bold effort to change the street map of Toronto, including Federal Avenue from the front of Union Station up to Queen Street and several streets running at a diagonal through the city's grid. A post on the Toronto Before blog illustrates what it might have looked like, and where it might have been, though the best rendering I've ever seen appears in Spacing. It looks almost like something out of Rome or Paris, and would have lent a feeling of planned and revered civilization that Toronto sorely lacks, save perhaps at Queen's Park.

Why was Vimy Circle never built, along with all the other proposals of the day? It was put to a referendum just three months after the 1929 Black Thursday crash of the stock markets heralding the start of what became the Great Depression. Unsurprisingly in those circumstances, the referendum failed.

Yet, while Toronto does not have a Vimy Circle, events today in Ottawa prove that Vimy Ridge will not soon be forgotten in Canada.

Heritage: Each One Remembered

Linda Granfield spoke to the Swansea Historical Society in Toronto, Ontario on 7-April-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The announced topic of this month's meeting of the Swansea Historical Society this evening was war brides. Linda Granfield indeed provided a substantial amount of information on how young British women married, left for Canada in secret, entered through Pier 21 in Halifax, and became community leaders across the nation. It truly was another time--a guide book was provided with things that would be overwhelmingly offensive now, such as the statement "Canadian men love pie" followed by three pie recipes--apple, pumpkin, and lemon meringue. It's hard to imagine in modern times how after war rationing that seeing white bread and milk on a trans-Atlantic voyage would be overwhelming. Yet, Granfield has written extensively for school children, and thus history is very much living to her.

Friday is Vimy Ridge Day, the day when Canada celebrates its emergence as a military force on the world stage. Ninety-three years ago, Canadian forces led the capturing of a high ground in France, losing nearly 3600 men in the process. The day has been celebrated as a military coming of age in Canada ever since. This year, after the death in February of John Babcock, the last living of 640,000 Canadian (and Newfoundlander) veterans from World War I, the Government of Canada decided to hold special ceremonies on Vimy Ridge Day in Ottawa.

Yet, outside of the nation's capitol, it would be all too easy to ignore the event, and Linda Granfield felt that should not happen. She started the Each One Remembered campaign in an attempt to get poppies made in honor of each of the 640,000 soldiers. Linked off the web page is a PDF file of a poppy that could be coloured in with a simple crayon. She started to spread the word--in part through her network of war brides.

At last check, the count was only above 12,000, but it included the full geographic range of Canada from coast to coast to coast, and there's still time before Friday. All one has to do is download a poppy and print it out (or draw one!), then follow the link to report the effort. Then, watch the special ceremonies for this Vimy Ridge Day that will air on all broadcasting networks at mid-day on Friday. It's the least we can do to recognize the sacrifice that has led to the country we know today.