Vimy Ridge, a fourteen kilometer natural barrier providing a strategic
position on the Western front during World War 1, had been seized by the
Germans in 1914. Any efforts to dislodge the enemy resulted in total
failure. Hope of victory was quickly evaporating amongst the Allies.
When Lieutenant General Byng, Commander of the Canadian Corps,
examined the dilemma in 1917, he never gave up on hope. There should be
a way to dislodge the enemy, and soon a plan was devised and put into
action.
Canadian soldiers began digging beneath Vimy Ridge. If
victory could not be obtained in the open, it had to be obtained by
other means. A network of thirteen tunnels was dug through chalk,
providing the troops protection. These were eight meters deep, totaling
close to ten kilometers overall, an ideal place to launch infantry
attacks. Yes it did take time to dig all of this, but hope after all is
based on patience.
Sappers also dug galleries leading to the
German strongholds, and fourteen mines were placed under strategic
locations.
On March 20 half of the Allied guns began the bombardment of the
enemy. On April 2 the entire artillery bombarded the Germans. The enemy
called this "the week of suffering." By April 12 the Canadians had
conquered all of Vimy Ridge. What had been impossible for three years
became a reality, and all because of hope.
Hope drives people to
victory, even more so when we rely solely on the One who created us.
In a land where comfort is the norm, we often forget what hope
means. Sooner or later however, anyone of us will be struck with
tragedy, and when that happens we will feel completely lost, in danger
of becoming completely demoralized. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Suffering is an opportunity to discover what real hope means.
We,
too, can conquer the "Vimy Ridges" of life, which seem unbeatable, but
it will depend on whether or not we fully understand what hope in an
Almighty God means, hope that "Nothing, you see, is impossible with
God." (Luke 1:37 MSG)
It all depends how we view suffering.
Rob Chaffart
