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A Spruce Meadows-hosted luncheon at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel on Wednesday brought together promoters of a memorial to Canada’s 1917 victory at France’s Hill 70 and the city’s business community.
The mission was to raise awareness of the coming-of-age exploit a century ago in which Calgary-raised troops played a decisive part, and to raise funds for the $8.5-million project that’s taken shape on the site of the battle at Loos en Gohelle, France.
The capture and holding of the strategic heights in August 1917 denied the Germans a vital artillery position at the cost of 5,700 Canadian casualties.
It was part of what’s been described as Canada’s war of independence, by eroding the nation’s colonial status and uniting the country, said project spokesman Rob Baxter. "
The above excerpt is from a recent piece in the Calgary Herald, with thanks to them and to Bill Kaufmann for the interview. Read it here.