Though the Battle of Vimy Ridge was a success for the Canadians
and, one could argue, earned Canada the status of nationhood, it
did not turn the tide of the war. British attacks at Scarpe
failed and the war dragged on. Sir Julian Byng, the leader at
Vimy, was promoted and in his place came a man who would
distinguish himself as a master strategist in the war – Sir
Arthur Currie, the first division commander who had received a
knighthood after Vimy. After a hard-fought battle in the town of
Lens (more than 9,000 casualties), Currie faced what was to be
one of the most desperate (and ultimately futile) battles of the
war: Passchendaele. This Belgian town represented the last
bulwark to prevent German access to the English Channel. It also
had symbolic value for the Allies. The Germans has taken the
town two years before and held it – incurring terrible
casualties on the British and Australian forces there – which
infuriated thenew British commander on the Western Front, Sir
Douglas Haig. In October, 1917, Haig