VIMY RIDGE, France - Students, soldiers, and grateful French citizens shivered under the shadow of a towering war memorial today to honour those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in one of Canada's greatest military coups - the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Conservative MP Kevin Sorenson told the solemn crowd of more than 300 it's hard to comprehend the carnage and chaos that unfolded on the the sprawling landscape that now holds so much peaceful beauty. Echoing the words of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who rededicated a massive monument to the war dead at Vimy's 90th anniversary last spring, Sorenson said "there may be no place on earth that makes us feel more Canadian."

"Today, as we look back across 91 years that separate us from that historic battle, it's difficult to imagine the courage and dedication it must have taken to leave the relative safety of the trenches and step into the hands of fate," he said.

"Yet we must try, because Vimy Ridge is more than just a chapter in Canadian history. Vimy Ridge is the story of tens and thousands of individuals, ordinary people like you and me, who stood up for something they believe in, for something we all believe in - peace and freedom."

Representatives from the British, French and German governments took part in the ceremony before the limestone monument inscribed with the names of 11,285 Canadians soldiers listed as "missing, presumed dead" in France.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge began at 5:30 a.m. Easter Monday, April 9, 1917. While it is considered one of Canada's greatest military sucesses, it claimed about 3,600 lives of Canadian soldiers.