The Vimy OaksThe Vimy Oaks

"The images from World War I of death, ravaged landscapes and decimated villages are hauntingly familiar. Imagine a young soldier standing in the midst of that horror and destruction pocketing a handful of acorns from the blasted trees and posting them home. That's exactly what Lieutenant Leslie H. Miller, a teacher, farmer and solder with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, did after the battle at Vimy Ridge in April 1917. Over the following one hundred years, those acorns became majestic oaks, standing at the site of Miller's family farm in Ontario. In April 2017, seedlings from these oaks will be repatriated to their original territory at Vimy Ridge in France as part of the ceremonies to mark Canada's contribution to the War. The Battle at Vimy Ridge took a devastating toll but it is regarded as Canada's greatest World War I victory, both on the battlefield and in terms of Canada's birth as a nation. The story of one ordinary soldier's quiet but extraordinary act, an almost unimaginable gesture of hope and renewal at the time, serves a century later as a living memorial to those who served."--