Orléans resident remembers his war hero grandfather, Sir Arthur Currie

Although he died in 1933 you can now physically look up to this giant of Canada's military history as part of the Valiants Memorial, behind the National War Memorial on Elgin Street.

Captain Arthur William Currie, of Orléans, was on hand when the statue of his renowned grandfather was unveiled by Governor General Michaelle Jean earlier this month. "I felt really impressed by the statue itself," he said. "They are very lifelike and made to be at eye level. My grandfather's isn't because he was 6 foot four."

Perhaps Currie's stature in military history is why he received the honour of a full statue while some better known luminaries from our history were there in the form of a bust. The 14 statues include Joseph Brant, Laura Secord, General Sir and Isaac Brock. They are drawn from all Canadian conflicts stretching back to French defenders driving off English invaders in Quebec and Canadians beating back Americans in the 19th century, as well as both world wars in the 20th century.

Sir Currie was born in Ontario and was living in British Columbia when the First World War broke out. He began as a gunner and although he had militia training he had no professional military experience. Still, he quickly proved himself a superb field commander as he commanded the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade at Ypres in 1915. That led to a promotion to command the 1st Canadian Division, which led to his command of the Canadian Corps in June 1917, which he unified as one fighting unit for the first time.

He took part in every major action of the Canadian forces on the Western Front, achieving success against all odds at Passchendaele late in 1917, leading the Canadian Corps to victory at Amiens in August 1918, and the transition from trench warfare to hugely successful mobile war in the final days of the war.

Although Captain Currie never met his famous grandfather, many people who did know him have approached Currie over the years to tell him stories of the great man. "Family and the military people who knew him say he was a statistician and a genius for planning. When he commanded he tried to do it with as few casualties as possible."

The general is probably best known for taking Vimy Ridge, a tremendous success partly because Currie proved his theory that the scattered Canadian forces could achieve great victories if they were unified in battle. Currie was the one who convinced military planners to bring together all the Canadians into one place to fight as the Canadian Corp. "Fighting alongside Canadian divisions isn't the same as fighting with the British or the French, or whomever at the time," said the Orléans resident. "In terms of capturing Vimy Ridge, the French couldn't do it, the British couldn't do it. They sent the Canadians in as one unit and they did it under his command."