A sapling that is a direct descendant of a tree that was destroyed by artillery fire in the historic battle of Vimy Ridge has found a home in British Columbia.
The tree was planted Thursday in a ceremony in Frances Park in Surrey to honour the 100th anniversary of the First World War battle that killed 3,598 Canadian soldiers.
The story of how the tree came to take root goes back a century, when a Canadian combat officer brought home acorns he picked up on the battlefield, where most trees had been completely destroyed by heavy fire.
Canadian officer Lieutenant Lesley Miller from Scarborough brought the acorns home to Canada and planted them on his farm in 1917.
Today, there are 10 trees that still stand on the Millar farm marking the sacrifice and service of Canadian veterans. They are called the Vimy Oaks.
There was a plan in place to take some saplings from those trees and send them back to Vimy to plant them and re-establish oak trees on the ridge, but they weren't able to be imported into France because of regulations.
Liberal MP Ken Hardie learned about the trees from a colleague in an Ottawa caucus meeting, and set out to purchase one. From there it was shipped to B.C., where he worked to find it a home in a Surrey park.
Hardie said the planting is fitting because the park is named after the mother of Arthur Fleetwood, who died in World War 1.
"This spot is actually quite symbolic," he said.
"We're very close to Arthur. He was certainly in our thoughts every November 11th. And we thought it was fitting all of these pieces could come together."
