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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

VIMY and VIMY Memorial


fstevens

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Some great photos there fredz, thanks for sharing. What is the inscription on 'Vimy_6' and is that a Vickers Gun above?

Jon

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Some great photos there fredz, thanks for sharing. What is the inscription on 'Vimy_6' and is that a Vickers Gun above?

Jon

With the aid of a magnifying glass :)

" NOTICE THESE WALLS ARE SACRED TO THE NAMES OF SOLDIERS WHO INSCRIBED THEM DURING THEIR OCCUPATION IN THE WAR OF 1914 . 1918. PLEASE OMIT YOURS"

Looks like a Vickers with a smooth water jacket

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Thanks for the reply fredz, and as to why there's a Vickers lying on top is anyones guess, presumably these trenches were rebuilt for the pilgrimages, does anything remain of them?

Jon

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It's not a Vickers gun, it appears to be a German MG08.

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My father visited Vimy before WWII and says that there was then a considerable amount of war time materiel and artifacts lying around; they were not there when we first visited together in 1968 and the local story was that they all got removed by the Germans during WWII: easy enough to blame them, I suppose. Different times, different values - in the days of the little guides' building and small display there I think there were three break-ins in one year before they Canadians removed all such things completely - they even had to seal off the entrance to the short German tunnel in the Grange preserved area because of people breaking the locks on the steel entrance door.

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Great images Fredz, and welcome to GWF. Some views there that I have never seen before.

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Some excellent images there Fredz. The ones with a little distance behind are also useful because the lack of trees give a much better impression than can appreciated today with the woodland covering much of the ridge.

Jim

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