Multiplied by Two and Continued Indefinitely

The title is part of Lieutenant E.M.L. Burns' description of the barrage laid down by almost 1,000 guns aimed at the Germans holding Vimy Ridge. He described this way, "Imagine the loudest clap of thunder you ever heard, multiplied by two and continued indefinitely." After seven days of this murderous fire, the Canadians went over the top on April 9, 1917, in an attack that bested the previously futile efforts of both the French and the British to take the ridge from the Germans who had held it since 1914.
Finally the British commander-in-chief, Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, decided the stalemate could go on no longer, and so he ordered the Canadian Corps to take Hill 145, the summit of the ridge. The assaults on the hill to date had been made by British and French soldiers sent over the top to march toward the Germans, who simply cut down over 190,000 of them with machine gun fire. Either Haig had great faith in the Canadians, or he was using them as cannon fodder.
Julian Byng and Arthur Currie, in command of the Canadians, did not have cannon fodder in mind, however, and so they devised a different plan of attack and prepared their troops carefully for what was coming. Their innovations included taking such steps as issuing every soldier with a map, something never done before, and sending the first wave of 20,000 men out behind a creeping artillery barrage. Their attack was successful, in part due to the repeated rehearsals of what to do when the moment came. The Canadian soldiers distinguished themselves to such an extent on that day, the battle is referred to as the event that gave birth to the nation of Canada.
I watched the televised coverage of the ceremony held today to re-dedicate the newly refurbished memorial at Vimy Ridge. Perhaps the most moving part of the ceremony was near the end when a choral tribute was led by Canada's Susan Aglukark. She fronted a choir singing "I'm Dreaming of Home". The song is from the movie "Joyeux Noel" about the Christmas Truce that took place during the trench warfare of the war to end all wars. The real event it commemorates brought enemies out of their trenches on Christmas Eve, ready to forget for a little while that they were there expressly to murder each other.
The battle at Vimy Ridge was one where the art of murdering each other was taken yet again to new heights, thanks to the strategic maneuvering of Byng and Currie. It saw four Canadians earn the Victoria Cross and 10,000 Canadians fall, 3,594 of them never to rise again. It saw all of this happen in an offensive that was, overall, a failure although the Canadian part in it was regarded as a great tactical victory.
It did not see the end to war.
Although Canada has never yet fought in a war of aggression, we have taken part in war after war where the weapons grow ever larger and deadlier. We will continue our tradition of fighting for the right, but a cost measured in even one human life is a staggering price to pay. Why do the vines bearing the fruit of peace always seem to need human blood to grow? The monument on Vimy Ridge is inscribed with the names of 11,285 Canadians who went missing in action in France and lie in unmarked graves. How many more will Canada have to send off to death in order to stop the dying? Another six fell just yesterday in Kandahar.
How ironic that the battle that birthed a nation was fought on Easter Monday all those years ago, at the time of year when Christians celebrate their god's victory over violent death. How ironic that the six who died yesterday fell on the very day that the gentle, peaceful Jesus rose triumphant over the grasping grave. How many more have to fall into their tombs before humankind learns that war is not the way to end war?
When can we begin to build monuments to peace?