102nd anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge

102 years ago today the battle of Vimy Ridge began in France.

More than 10,000 soldiers were killed or injured in the four day conflict.

A massive memorial was unveiled 82 years ago honouring those soldiers, and one Hamilton woman was there at the ceremony and remembers it vividly.

In World War 1, George Wilcox was a member of the 48th Highlanders Regiment out of Toronto.

“My dad joined up in 1915, he spent his 21st birthday going overseas.”

He was injured in 1916 in what’s called one of the bloodiest conflicts ever, the battle of the Somme. More than 1 million soldiers were wounded or killed in that fight.

“The fact he made it out alive is remarkable. The third time he was considered dead. It was two days later they came to pick up bodies and realized he was still alive.”

That was months before the battle at Vimy Ridge.

George Wilcox returned to Canada in 1919 a different man.

“He never talked about the war to us. Whether it was because we were girls, I don’t know…he never talked to us about war.”

Despite that, he brought his family to the unveiling of the Vimy Ridge Monument in 1936. They took a ship over from Montreal.

“It was a memorable day, the monument is so massive. It’s overpowering to me a little girl, not fully realizing what it all meant.”

Kay Trickey was 9 at the time, she’s now 91, but still remembers walking through the trenches with her sister.

“I got so far into the trenches. The mud was coming down, I got so scared I ran into daylight and never went back.”

She still has many of the souvenirs from that trip. One of the most cherished items is a post card mailed by her parents that day.

“That was sent from Vimy, they had the foresight to send a card and put mom and dad so I have an actual card mailed from Vimy.”

On the 102nd anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge, Kay remembers proudly her father’s sacrifice in the First World War.