Commemorating the 90th anniversary of Canada’s 1936 Vimy Pilgrimage

THE

WAY BACK

Tracing the 1936 Vimy Pilgrimage

In July 1936, more than

6,200 Canadian veterans and their families

travelled to France as part of the Canadian Legion Vimy Pilgrimage.

They came to witness the unveiling of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, a monument commemorating 11,285 Canadians killed in France during the First World War whose remains were never recovered or identified.

With over 66,000 Canadians dead between 1914 and 1918, the journey was long overdue for many veterans and families of the fallen.

Pilgrims at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial / 2017.20 | Gift of John R. Newell / CCGW Collection

RETURN TO

VIMY

Grieving families were among the earliest visitors to the Western Front, travelling to see where their loved ones had fought and died. These journeys soon turned into organized battlefield tourism. With many veterans unemployed and struggling to receive adequate pensions, these trips were difficult and expensive, and few were able to attend. By the early 1930s, the desire to return had not faded, even when travelling to Europe remained far beyond the means for most Canadians during the Great Depression.

PILGRIM or TOURIST

Visitors to the Battlefields could be grouped into two categories: pilgrim or tourist. Pilgrims journeyed to mourn a loss or find solace in the healing landscape, and turned a critical eye on tourists, who they believed trivialized the war. However, in hindsight, both served to push the Battlefield Tourism industry forward.

As pilgrims and tourists alike flocked to the old front lines, these tours were offered by bus, by foot and even by bike. Vistors could view the front lines, stay in hotels, sample foreign dishes and buy souvenirs. Visits to ruins, however, were especially popular, with tourists taking rubble from falling buildings as souvenirs.

Veterans departing on the Vimy Pilgrimage

Sergeant Low, Private Broomhall, and Private Stuart at Bonaventure Station, Montreal, en route from Toronto to Vimy.
CCGW Collection

In July 1934, news broke that the Canadian Legion would conduct a national pilgrimage to the battlefields for veterans and their families. By November 1934, more than 1,200 inquiries had already been received from people hoping to take part. Two years later, the journey offered veterans the chance to reunite with wartime comrades, and families a long-awaited opportunity to remember those who never came home. The 1936 Vimy Pilgrimage became the largest peacetime voyage from Canada to Europe.

Photo postcard of the RMS Antonia / CCGW Collection

PLANNING THE

VOYAGE

Organizing such a monumental pilgrimage required careful coordination. By the mid-1930s, roughly 30,000 veterans were still unemployed. These difficulties were compounded by the Great Depression, when many struggled to afford everyday necessities. At a time like this, travelling to Europe was an extraordinary and deeply meaningful experience for many veterans and their families.

For $160 per person ($3,580 in 2026), the pilgrimage included a 3½-week trip to France, Belgium, and England. A $10 deposit was required, with the remaining sum to be paid in six installments. The French Government also offered an additional five days at no expense, which more than 5,000 pilgrims accepted. The pilgrimage included meals, accommodations, sea and land transportation, health insurance, a Vimy Passport, and equipment (a beret, haversack, and guidebook). The cost of rail travel within Canada was reduced, and veterans in civil service were offered 11 days of paid leave.

NO PRICE TOO HIGH

Did you know that this trip was still expensive, and some could not afford it.

Amy Baker, a wounded nurse, wished to attend the pilgrimage but could not afford it. Her story feature in The Globe, and through this, she managed to secured funding via donations by readers of the newspaper.

Photo postcards of the SS Duchess of Bedford, SS Montrose, SS Montcalm, RMS Antonia, and RMS Ascania.

CCGW Collection

Five passenger vessels carried pilgrims from Montreal to Le Havre, France and Antwerp, Belgium: SS Duchess of Bedford, SS Montrose, SS Montcalm, RMS Antonia, and RMS Ascania. Additionally, 235 motor coaches (buses) were outsourced to take pilgrims between hotels, ceremonies, and tours. The standard itinerary included visits to battlefields, memorials, and locations near the front lines where soldiers lived and trained. Special itineraries were arranged to accommodate requests from veterans and families to visit more than 300 different cemeteries.

GETTING AROUND

Did you know that Veterans sometimes had to tell motor coach drivers where to go on their tours, as the drivers could be completely unfamiliar with the area around Vimy.

Photo postcard of the RMS Antonia / CCGW Collection

THE PILGRIMAGE IN

SOUVENIRS

The journey to Vimy was not only an act of remembrance but also an experience pilgrims sought to preserve. Throughout the voyage, travellers gathered postcards, menus, tickets, photographs, and other keepsakes, creating personal records of the pilgrimage.

THE THINGS WE CARRY

Do you collect things when you travel? If so, can you identify how what you keep could be similar or different to what they decided to keep?

Collecting, scrapbooking, and journaling were deeply meaningful acts often undertaken by women and children. These individualized collections reveal perspectives often missing from official accounts of the pilgrimage.

Photographs of John Newell

2017.20 | Gift of John Newell
CCGW Collection

Ordinary objects such as menus from ships and banquets reveal meals that many pilgrims would rarely have experienced at home during the Great Depression. At a time of unemployment and food scarcity, pâté, cheeses, wines, and liqueurs made these meals memorable, giving pilgrims another reason to preserve the menus as reminders of the journey.

Through these cherished keepsakes, pilgrims fostered memories of a journey that was deeply personal. For veterans, it was a chance to remember comrades and stand again on the battlefields where they had served. For families, the pilgrimage offered the opportunity to visit graves and find a sense of closure, while others reconnected with fellow soldiers and shared their wartime experiences with loved ones. Carefully preserved and passed down through generations, these souvenirs reflect how the pilgrimage and the unveiling of the Vimy Memorial became lasting reminders of collective memory, loss, and personal experience for Canadians.

DID YOU KNOW

According to Don Wood, a child aboard the Montrose, there were many children on his ship. They played games aboard, occupying their time by "forming gangs and claiming ownership of different parts of the ship." This voyage involved memories of the Canadian shores, icebergs in the North Atlantic and Europe, games, tea parties and meals. While the trip was more solemn for adults, children’s testimonies demonstrate the novelty of experiences on this trip, such as new foods and sights, contrasted with more serious aspects of the pilgrimage.