On November 11th of every year most Canadians take a few minutes to pause and remember those who walked away from their civilian lives, and signed up to join a branch of our military to fight in wars all over this world – from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, from Hong Kong and Korea to the cold reaches of the North Atlantic and in the skies and on the ground in Europe and elsewhere. Plenty of Canadians gather for these moments of remembrance at monuments that were erected for that purpose in virtually every corner of this country, and overseas as well.
It was the Great War, World War I, that provided the incentive to build and place these monuments to those who volunteered, and those who died for the privileges many people take for granted today. At last count, Veterans Affair’s Canadian military memorials database has over 9,000 memorials recorded. It is an impressive catalogue of the efforts made by individual communities to provide some tangible record of the sacrifice made by Canadians in a range of wars from the Crimean War to Afghanistan.
More than 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders volunteered for service in World War I
– more than 66,000 of them gave their lives and 172,000 were wounded in that four-year conflict –
This was a massive effort from a country that had fewer than eight million citizens in 1914
At the end of it there was barely a single community that was not directly impacted by this war. As hundreds of thousands of Canadians were discharged from the military and returning home, communities looked for ways to recognize their efforts.
Perhaps the most recognizable monument of remembrance in most communities are cenotaphs – a durable statue or similar structure that is an ancient method that was used by the Greeks, Egyptians and in neolithic Northern Europe to honour their dead. The scale and sophistication of cenotaphs is often determined by the size and prosperity of the places they are found – but whether they be a simple plaque dedicated to a loving brother, like the one honouring Lt. Douglas Bond Symons on a trail in Blackwater, Ontario or the grand monuments that are in Ottawa or Vimy Ridge, they all invoke a sombre sense of awe and respect for those who came before us and who answered the call to duty.
Our National War Memorial resides in a suitably respectful place near Parliament Hill at the intersection of Elgin and Wellington Streets. It is a grand arch made of granite and metal, and like many in the country was commissioned to honour our national commitment to World War I and was based on a theme of the ‘Great Response of Canada’ by the winning sculptor, Vernon March of Farnborough England. Tragically, March never saw the final product of his bronze figures climbing through the arch, as he died in 1930.
Canada is a rare country in that it has not had to repel invaders since the War of 1812. Instead, we have sent our members of the military all over the world to fight in a variety of conflicts, for a range of reasons. As a consequence, there are a number of monuments to these efforts found in other countries, most notably at Vimy Ridge in north east France. Erected to commemorate the valiant and successful effort to push the German Army off this modest ridge in World War I, this most massive monument of all can be seen for miles. After the French and British armies failed to dislodge the Germans from this strategic spot, the Canadian Corps did so in April of 1917 at tremendous cost.
Commissioned in 1920 as one of eight monuments to be built by the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission, the monument was designed by Canadian architect and sculptor, Walter Allward. It was unveiled on July 26, 1936 by King Edward VIII. The monument is built on land that was declared to be Canadian territory by a decree of the French government, and is now administered by Parks Canada. It is only one of two overseas national parks, and it memorializes the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died in France and whose final resting place is unknown.
A more modest monument dedicated to the futile Dieppe raid of the Second World War can be found in that coastal town in the north of France. This singular column can be found in a small park called Square du Canada that was set aside by the Town of Dieppe, and that is designed to remember the raid that occurred on the 19th of August, 1942. The toll of this controversial mission was huge; of the 554 members of the Royal Regiment of Canada who embarked on the raid, 227 died in or as a result of the raid – 136 were wounded and 264 became Prisoners of War. Only 44 of the Black Watch of Canada’s 111 troops returned after the brief attack. A visit to this town is an eye-opening exercise in the futility of some plans made by senior commanders in any war.
Most Canadians will not see these impressive monuments, or any of the dozens of others found overseas. Most people will congregate near more modest memorials that are usually found in prominent places in cities and towns across Canada. Some of these memorials are found in private places, like stained glass windows in churches; some are very public – like streets named after veterans and usually symbolized with a poppy on the street sign. The most recognizable are in the form of some kind of cenotaph – most are turning one hundred years old this decade, many of these are undergoing some form of refurbishment after years of weathering and vandalism. Fortunately, Veterans Affairs has set aside matching funds for those communities that need to clean up or repair these important monuments.
There was a time when pundits claimed Canadians were no longer interested in recognizing Remembrance Day. What they couldn’t predict are the efforts of schools, historical societies, legions and municipalities to promote the annual Poppy drive; to hang street banners featuring local veterans; to see people put Remembrance lawn signs on their front lawn; to attend church services, school assemblies, historical presentations or local Remembrance Day ceremonies at the local gathering place – the cenotaphs that dot our landscape. Please plan to attend your local Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11th, and take a moment to contemplate the monument as well as the veterans of the many wars this country has fought.
Ruth Cameron says
An important time.