Canadians honour and remember[/size][/color]
Last Updated Fri, 11 Nov 2005 13:08:47 EST
CBC News
Canada remembered its war dead in solemn ceremonies across the country Friday as thousands gathered at dozens of Remembrance Day events and a special Book of Remembrance was unveiled at an emotional ceremony in Ottawa .
Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa
At the cenotaph in the nation's capital, Remembrance Day ceremonies attracted large crowds. But for the first time, there were no First World War veterans in attendance. The last of those veterans from the Ottawa area died earlier this year at the age of 104.
The First World War ended 87 years ago today, and only a handful of Canadians who fought in the Great War are still alive.
Veterans from other conflicts stood alongside family and dignitaries in a cold breeze under sunny skies as a lone bugler played the Last Post.
New Book of Remembrance unveiled Earlier in the day, a new memorial to members of Canada's military, the Seventh Book of Remembrance, was unveiled during a solemn ceremony in Ottawa as part of the country's Remembrance Day events.
The black leather-bound book contains the names of more than 1,300 Canadian Forces members who have died in the service of their country from October 1947 to today, not including those who died in the Korean War, which has a separate book.
The Seventh Book of Remembrance marks the first time fallen peacekeepers have been recognized in this way. It will be placed alongside six previous books in the Memorial Chamber below the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. All seven books taken together commemorate the names of the 112,182 Canadians killed while in military service.
"They will be missed. They will be remembered. And we will be forever grateful," said Prime Minister Paul Martin.
The first six books contain the names of Canadians killed in the South African War and the Nile Expedition, the First and Second World Wars and Korea.
There are also books to honour the Merchant Navy and soldiers from Newfoundland, which only joined Confederation in 1949.
Governor General Michaëlle Jean dedicated the latest book.
One of those whose name appears in the book is Sgt. Marc Leger. He died in 2002 in Afghanistan along with three fellow soldiers, killed by a bomb dropped from an American fighter plane.
Governor General comforts Silver Cross Mother His father and mother, Richard and Claire Leger, took part in the ceremony. Claire Leger is this year's Silver Cross Mother.
She wept as the book containing her son's name was officially unveiled. The Governor General then held Leger and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"It's like we're burying our son one more time. But if you don't have that recognition, and these ceremonies, it's extremely important," Leger said earlier. "It's almost like you're happy that it's going on, but it's not because it makes you so sad. You're in between the two."
Nancy Ellis, an Ottawa calligrapher, wrote every name in the book. It took her four months in her studio to complete the list of names in ink on calf-skin parchment.
Silver Cross Mother Claire Leger with Governor General Michaëlle Jean at the Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa
Writing the names, she says, allowed her time to think of each person who died.
"I think, at my age, I feel more sorry for the families. I think that's always the worst part," she said. "And I don't know whether it really helps. It hasn't happened to me.
"So, I don't know whether it really, truly helps to go to a memorial book in a memorial chamber and see your loved one's name in a book. But I really hope it does. I really hope that it provides them with some sense of solace."
Richard and Claire Leger are sure they'll take some comfort seeing their son's name in the book. But his loss is still a source of immense sorrow for them and Remembrance Day brings it all to the surface.
Ellis calls the Seventh Book of Remembrance a living volume. Entire pages are blank. But over time, those pages will be filled.
INDEPTH: REMEMBRANCE DAYRemembrance Day[/color]
CBC News Online | Nov. 10, 2005
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Canadians are asked to pause and remember the thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom and democracy during the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War and during peacekeeping missions.
The 29th Battalion, part of the Second Canadian Division, advances into No Man's Land through German barbed wire and heavy fire in the right-centre of the Canadian advance on April 9, 1917. (Courtesy Veterans Affairs Canada). During the First World War, (1914-1918) more than 600,000 soldiers volunteered to go overseas. As of November 2004, Veterans Affairs Canada is aware of 8 veterans of the First World War who are still alive. One is a woman. Their average age is 103.
These soldiers fought in a series of costly and bloody battles and by the end of the war, more than 69,000 Canadian soldiers had died and 172,000 were wounded.
They died fighting at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Bourlon Wood, Mons, Passchendaele and Ypres. In Ypres, Canadian soldiers were exposed to German gas attacks, yet continued to fight. They showed amazing tenacity and courage in the face of danger.
A Consolidated VLR Liberator provides air-cover for a transatlantic convoy during the Second World War. (Courtesy Veterans Affairs Canada). During the Second World War, (1939-45) more than one million men and women from Canada and Newfoundland served in combat in the army, air force and navy. More than 47,000 men and women did not come home from that battle.
Canadians lost their lives fighting in Dieppe, Normandy, the North Atlantic, defending Hong Kong, during the liberation of Italy, and in many other important air, sea and land campaigns.
As of November 2004, 268,110 veterans from this world war were alive, with an average age of 82.
Canadian soldiers dig a trench in Korea. (Courtesy Veterans Affairs Canada). In Korea, 516 Canadian soldiers died during the 1950-53 conflict, in which 26,791 Canadians served. The battles of Hill 355 and Hill 187, among others, saw Canadians fighting in swamps and rice fields, through torrential rain and snow, in the air and at sea.
In 2003, Canada marked the 50th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice by unveiling the Monument to Canadian Fallen at Confederation Park in Ottawa.
The words "WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU BRAVE SONS OF CANADA" are inscribed at the base of the monument, which also contains the names of all 516 Canadians who lost their lives in Korean War service or subsequent Korean peacekeeping service.
Wreath laid by a nephew at his uncle's grave at Canadian Cemetery No. 2 at Vimy Ridge. In 2004, Canada also remembered the 60th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, where Canadian troops suffered 18,444 casualties. Among them, 5021 were killed. Of all the divisions which formed part of the 21 Army Group, none suffered more casualties than the 3rd and 2nd Canadian.
It was a huge sacrifice – and a huge factor in turning the tide of the war against Hitler's Germany.
The first Remembrance Day, held in 1919 throughout the Commonwealth, was originally called Armistice Day. The day commemorated the end of the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.: the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
The Poppy The association between the poppy and war dates back to the Napoleonic wars when a writer saw a field of poppies growing over the graves of fallen soldiers.
During the Battle of Ypres in 1915, Canadian Lt.-Col. John McCrae was inspired to write the poem In Flanders Fields on sighting the poppies growing beside a grave of a close friend who had died in battle.
The poem was a great inspiration in adopting the poppy as the Flower of Remembrance in Canada, France, the U.S, Britain and Commonwealth countries.
The first poppies were distributed in Canada in 1921. Today the volunteer donations from the distribution of millions of poppies is an important source of revenue for the Royal Canadian Legion that goes toward helping ex-servicemen and women buy food, and obtain shelter and medical attention.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- John McCrae, 1915
Canada's surviving First World War veterans Lloyd Clemett, Toronto, Ont., born 1899, Omemee, Ont.
Clare Laking, Toronto, Ont., born 1899. on a farm near Cambellville Ont.
William (Duke) Procter, Enderby, British Columbia, born 1899 Mabel Lake, B.C.
P. Dwight Wilson, Oshawa, Ont., born 1901, in Vienna Ont.
John F. Babcock, Spokane, Wa., born 1900, on a farm in Ontario.