# WW1 Cemetaries



## Ex-Dragoon (8 Apr 2007)

While following the Vimy Ridge re dedication I wondered what happened when the German army came through these areas during WW2. Did they leave things alone? Did they desecrate things to supposedly wipe the shame of a defeat? What happened at Vimy and other battlesites during WW2?


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## GAP (8 Apr 2007)

Some of the answers might be on sites like this...

www.firstworldwar.com

I have a friend who for the past number of years has been doing a picture survey of cemeteries all over the world where Canadians soldiers are buried...I'll see if I can find his website.
Plans in Sand Website


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## AJFitzpatrick (9 Apr 2007)

Here is an interesting image to say the least.


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## Stoker (9 Apr 2007)

How Hitler spared Vimy Ridge

Agence France-Presse
Soldier's funeral among key events OTTAWA–Vimy commemoration events get underway in earnest this morning in France with the burial of Pte. Herbert Peterson at La Chaudière Military Cemetery.Nazi dictator assigned special Waffen-SS troops to guard historic site during World War II

Apr 07, 2007 04:30 AM 
Ron Haggart 
Special to the Star

When Hitler's armies were advancing across France in 1940, the Canadian government put out a story that German troops were damaging the memorial at Vimy Ridge.

Walter Allward's soaring monument had been unveiled only a short time before, in 1936, the only official ceremony (except for abdication) in the short reign of Edward VIII. A popular postage stamp was widely in circulation, so Canadians were thoroughly familiar with Vimy Ridge, and they were outraged. There was someone else who was outraged by this story; his name was Adolf Hitler.

The monument at Vimy Ridge was Hitler's favourite memorial from World War I, because it is a monument to peace, not a celebration of war. There are no carved guns at Vimy Ridge, no helmeted soldiers, no stacks of cannonballs. Instead, the figures are of Canada grieving for her lost sons.

Hitler went to Vimy Ridge on June 2, 1940, called in the world's press as best he could and insisted they take his picture on the unscathed steps. He then assigned special troops from the Waffen-SS to guard Vimy Ridge. 

The SS had a vicious reputation – they were Hitler's personal army, they guarded him. And it was also their job to protect Vimy Ridge, not only from Allied armies but also from regular Wehrmacht soldiers who, rather understandably, might want to deface it. No one would defy the SS.

Hitler's plan was a great success. All the Australian war graves in France from World War I were destroyed in World War II. But the cemetery beside Vimy Ridge and the memorial itself remained untouched because the Waffen-SS did its job. 

The Vimy memorial stands there today, ready for this week's ceremonies, mainly because the government of Canada has invested a great deal of money in repairing it.

But the Vimy memorial is there at all because it was saved by its most infamous fan, Adolf Hitler.


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## Ex-Dragoon (9 Apr 2007)

Thanks Stoker, who would have thought eh?


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## gaspasser (9 Apr 2007)

Well...one good bone in his body??!!
German lives were lost there too.


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## TN2IC (9 Apr 2007)

It is very respectful on what Hitler did. Really blew me away when I read that. I had that question float in my mind a few times. Great post/question! Two thumbs up.


Cheers,
TN2IC


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