Huron Expositor, 2016-11-09, Page 5Wednesday, November 9, 2016 • Huron Expositor 5
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Huron County and World War One
This year is the one
hundredth anniver-
sary of the formation
and deployment overseas of
the 161st (Huron) Battalion.
Canada's participation in
the Great War 1914-1918 is a
remarkable story. Our con-
tribution to the allied effort
was stellar for a country that
had fewer than 8 million
people in 1914. 630,000
Canadians enlisted and
424,000 went overseas
including the Huron Battal-
ion plus others from Huron
County serving in other
units.
The context in which we
place Canada's involvement
in the "War to end all wars"
may be summarized numer-
ically:65 million in the mili-
tary services
20 million killed (includ-
ing civilians)
21 million wounded
The war saw the end of
three empires, German,
Turkish, and Austria-Hun-
gary. The war was a horror
and gave rise to more
Huron History
David Yates
horrors in the 20th century.
We still live with the geopo-
litical and military ramifica-
tions which are a direct
result of the Great War.
It is difficult for us to grasp
the carnage of this war. We
see the numbers and need
to translate these numbers
to what they would be like in
our time. For example if we
take the 65 million people
serving and then realize that
the same proportion of the
global population today, we
would have 270 million in
military units today.
The combined killed and
wounded number would
then be 170 million. Such
losses and wounded num-
bers would parallel how
much the impact would have
seemed to the various coun-
tries, for example France
alone had millions of casual-
ties which in today's terms
might be 6 million or more.
The United Kingdom's losses
were also very large and
might translate to 2 million
today. In both England and
France the active young male
population of some entire
villages was lost.
In Canada our population
was around 8 million then and
is 35 million now. Our losses
were about 65,000 and today's
numbers would be about
270,000 killed. The 173,000
wounded would be well over
700,000 today. Imagine the
impact that would have on us
now. It was profound in the
1914-1918 war.
People did not easily get
over the effect of the losses
in the Great War, in fact,
many never got over the
losses and the damaged
Election, not Halloween, scary
George Clark
Halloween at our
house served to
remind me just how
topsy-turvy our whole world
has become. A few more
than 100 costumed visitors
arrived at our west London
door that evening, but there
were few ghosts and goblins
among them. Instead, we
were greeted by princesses
and superheroes, bunnies,
pirates, a Star Wars
stormtrooper and a scarlet
uniformed, pint-sized mem-
ber of the Queen's Guard.
Instead of threatening
groans and growls, we were
cascaded by giggles, laughs
and cheerful wishes for a
Happy Halloween. And as
they turned to leave, many
thank-yous were called out
over their shoulders.
No axe murderers with
simulated blood- caked
hands and cheeks, and only
one chainsaw -massacre
mask, but no chainsaw.
So, where could you find
this scary stuff on this 2016
Halloween? Unfortunately,
it was indoors, on the televi-
sion, either on cable news or
as commercials. And sadly,
this scary stuff isn't reserved
to one special night of the
year to celebrate the end of
October, but has been going
on now for months, even
years.
I'm talking about the U.S.
presidential election
campaign.
Historically, such cam-
paigns have been used to
inspire voters to support a
particular candidate or party
while occasionally tossing a
little dirt on opponents
when it's possible. In this
topsy-turvy world we now
live in, the dirt -throwing,
name -smearing, reputation -
shattering charges by candi-
dates take top billing over
any attempts at inspiration.
It has resulted in voters no
longer voting for a candidate
of their choice, but against a
candidate they fear.
And the fear is real. There
are far too many voters to
count who fear for their
futures if the candidate not of
their choice gets elected next
week. There have been veiled
threats referring to the neces-
sity to remember the Second
Amendment of the U.S. Con-
stitution, the right of citizens
to bear arms. The role of fear
in this campaign has not
been by accident. Charges
against racial minorities have
echoed from the podiums at
rallies, warning of rapists and
terrorists. While the Republi-
can candidate threatens to
build physical walls to keep
out undocumented Mexican
immigrants, and legal walls
to stop Muslim immigrants
from entering the country,
the Democratic candidate
warns women and non-cau-
casians their rights will be
threatened if the opposition
wins.
The last time I can
remember when fear played
a demonstrative role in a
U.S. election presidential
election campaign was in
1964, the Goldwater -John-
son contest, when a TV
commercial scared the liv-
ing daylights out of many
people.
The advertisement
men who never recovered.
In Huron County such
comparisons in population
terms is not useful because
there has not been a large
population change. It is diffi-
cult to be absolutely clear on
the numbers killed from
Huron County because the
enlistments occurred in vari-
ous places over the years of
the war but the number is
around 550, or somewhat
higher. Nonetheless, the
impact of casualties in a rural
area like Huron was felt by the
whole community because
everyone knows everyone
else. So, we remember these
losses this year especially.
The fact remains that we
have been living in the
shadow of the Great War
ever since it ended. Some
suggest that we live in a time
now that "invites compari-
son with Europe of 1914':
We live again in a time when
a "complex array of forces,
including declining empires
and rising forces" that
invites the comparison.
showed a three-year -old girl
in closeup, counting aloud
as she pulled petals from a
daisy. As she reaches the No.
10, she stops to listen as a
speaker begins an echoing
countdown from 10, until
the screen is filled with a
nuclear blast at zero.
On the voiceover, then -
President Lyndon B. John-
son warns listeners "The
stakes are too high ... we
must either love each other
or we must die." An
announcer then intones,
"The stakes are too high.
Vote for President Johnson
on Nov 3. The stakes are too
high to stay home "
There are many who
would argue the last sen-
tence applies 52 years later
when Americans again go to
the polls to elect a president.
But in this topsy-turvy
world of ours, my real fear is
that the final vote will not
resolve issues with the elec-
tion of a new leader, but just
kick off another four years of
gridlock, division and fear.
George Clark is a London
freelance writer.
ea orthhuronex a ositor.co
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