THE GREAT SAMURAI ATTACK.

[juliastinson]

This whole unit, all I could think of was kamikaze samurais. I felt that when the Canadians attacked on Vimy Ridge it was looked upon as a suicide mission or to me it was because Germany had it all going for them... position, barbed wire, the whole bit. For many Canadian soldiers it was a suicide mission but they died in honour for their country. They did plan out their assault extremely well, but it still reminded me of a movie i watched once . It may have been the last samurai but I can’t remember for sure. The intent of a kamikaze war tactic was for honour and ultimately to serve as best you could in the circumstance? Isn’t it ? So, thank goodness Canada triumphed and became a recognizable and victorious nation, but all I can picture in my head are samurais.

[Mr. Delainey]

The word Kamikazee literally means "divine wind". The word's origins come from a failed attempt by the Mongol navy to cross the Sea of Japan and invade Japan itself. A "divine wind" rescued Japan by sending the Mongol navy to the bottom of the sea.

In terms of Canadian soldiers entering into a suicide mission, I don't know about that. Suicide (or Kamikazee) generally meant certain death. At Vimy there were soldiers that survived. I don't know the figures as to how many Canadians actually died or were wounded during the attack.

Maybe you could find that out?

[juliastinson]

"In four days, 3,600 Canadian soldiers died, another 5,000 were wounded."
www.cbc.ca/news/background/vimy/