The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a war memorial located approximately eight kilometers north of Arras in France, near the town of Vimy. It is Canada's largest overseas national memorial. Situated on land granted by France to the Canadian people, the memorial towers over the scene of Canada's most recognizable First World War engagement, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, fought from 9 to 12 April 1917. The memorial commemorates all Canadians who were killed during the Great War of 1914-1918, but have no known grave. 60,000 Canadians were killed or missing during the war, out of which over 11,000 have no known grave. The imposing structure of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial bears the inscribed names of 11,168 missing Canadians, killed in action in France but whose remains have not been found or identified. The site of the memorial is also one of the few places on the former Western Front where a visitor can see the trench lines of a First World War battlefield and the related terrain in a preserved natural state.

Photo credit