The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-11-07, Page 15leisure, features and entertainment
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Canadian
First World War
Memorials in Europe
54
Vimy Memorial, France
Canadians who served abroad in the
First World War numbered 619,636 and
of these 66,655 gave their lives.
There are 19,660 of these men who
have no known graves. Their names are
inscribed on memorials in Canada and
Europe, 11,285 on the Vimy Memorial,
and 6,994 •on. the Commonwealth
Memorial at the Menin Gate in Ypres.
On the Newfoundland Memorial at
Beaumont Hamel are the names of 814
wfoundlanders who have no known
ves.
In addition, the Unknown Warrior,
interred in Westminster Abbey on No-
vember 11, 1920, represents all the First
World War "missing" of the British
Commonwealth.
Canada has in France and R.elgium
thirteen battlefield memorials com-
memorating the exploits ,of Canadia.n
and Newfoundland troops in the First.
World War. Two of these, Vimy and
Beaumont Hamel, were also used by
the Imperial (now Commonwealth)
War Graves Commission to com-
memorate the names of those whose
last resting places are unknown. All the
memorials are maintained by the Com-
mission acting for Canada. The five
memorials erected by Newfoundland
following the First World War became
the responsibility of the Government of
Canada when Newfoundland entered
Confederation in 1949.
They did not die in vain
It is Remembrance time again and
we will again pay tribute, with ap-
propriate ceremony, 'at the cenotaphs
and memorials erected to our war dead
throughout Canada, and beyond.
Eighty-five years have passed since
the South African War began, 70 years
since the beginning of World War 1,
forty-five years since World War II
broke out, and even the conflict in
Korea started nearly 35 years ago. Thus
there must be a large number of young
people who cannot, from personal
memory, have a full appreciation of the
meaning of Remembrance, even in-
cluding some sons and daughters of
those being honored at the Remem-
brance services.
Are we informing?
As we participate in these cere-
monies — by actual attendance at the
services, not in front of television sets, I
hope — we must ask ourselves what we
are doing to inform our children, our
youth generally, of the significance of
this occasion. •
Perhaps we might go further and ask
if we can analyze it for ourselves
satisfactorily.
Well, why do we hold Remembrance
services? Why should we attend them,
especially when the wind is chill or
more attractive pursuits beckon.
Undoubtedly the first reason is the
war dead themselves; more than
112,000 of them. in the four conflicts
listed above. Their names and their
regiments are . permanently inscribed
.04,,,Canada's ' four Books, of Remem-
brance, and in the hearts of those who
knew and loved them. ,
Their graves are in faraway places
and in the seven seas. It is a sobering
experience to walk among the serried
rows of headstones in the war ceme-
teries and note their names, sometimes
familiar ones, and their ages — 18, 20,
23, 25; truly the flower of youth, its
promise unfulfilled.
But not all of them have markers
over their final resting places. Those
who "vanished" are corihmemorated on
the great memorials erected by Canada
and the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, of ,which Canada is a
senior member. They are but names, a
single line to each, on panels of stone or
bronze; 11,285 on the ramparts of the
majestic Vimy Memorial alone.
Why did they have to die? Was their
sacrifice worthwhile?
Their lives were part of the price
demanded of the free world for the
preservation of freedom: For freedom
is never "free". It is the prerogative
only of those who are prepared to de-
fend it. Failure to resist each encroach-
ment upon it inevitably means that it
must be redeemed, eventually, at an
awesome price.
The' years that culminated in 1945 are
a classic example of that axiom.
Was it worthwhile? Only those who
have lost their freedom can adequately
answer that. Only those who know the
tyranny of a dictatorship, and the dark-
ness . that descends when justice is
abrogated, know what it is like not to be
free.
There are many such people in your
community. Let them speak!
Let us, on this Remembrance Day,
• honor those who, by their sacrifice,
.gave us the right to live in democratic
freedom.
An inspiration
Let us make it our resolve to preserve
their memory, and to inspire in our
children the ideals for which they gave
• their lives.
Let -us, Ain sympathy and en
thusiasm, do all'we can to care for their
widows and their orphans, and for their
surviving comrades whose w9unds and
scars were also part ofthe price of free-
dom.
These men, and those who marched
with them, fought not for personal gain,
nor for glory or for conquest.
Their homeland was their love; duty
was their creed; meani ful were their
lives; truly they are Canada's heroes.
Let us, in our time and in our way, be
worthy of their tradition. — (NC)
Serving over 24,000 homes in Listowel, Wingham,
Mount•Forest, Milverton, Ariss, Arthur, Qrayton,
Harriston, Moorefield, Palmerston, Bloomingdale,
Breslau, Conestogo, Elmira, Heidelberg, Linwood,
Maryhill, St. Clements, St. Jacobs, Wallenstein,
Wellesley and West Montrose.
Crossroads—Nov. 7, 1984
The sights; the sounds; the memories; the tear
Remember --for the past and future
Canadians have had, since the dawn
of our nation, 117 dears ago, three basic
aspirations: peace, freedom and
security,
We have stood and will continue to
stand for all three.
It has been said, however, that peace
is the dream of the wise; war, the
history of man.
Three times
Three times this century, Canadians
went off to war to fight for these aspir-
ations.
In 1914, the youthful Canada stood
beside the aging British F`vire as it
faced the most imposing threat ever to
its way of life.
It was a time when Canada was ready
to blossom into nationhood and the
freedom of Europe was threatened by
war.
From villages, towns hnd cities, from
schools, factories, and offices came
Canadians of every background to
answer their country's call. They did so
again in 1939 and in 1950.
The$' went overseas to wars which
many of them knew little about. They
went to serve Canada, to ensure "her
security and freedom, and with it, the
security and freedom of the entire
world.
Our soldiers experienced the fire of
battle at St. Julien and Ypres in. 1915
and the Somme in 1916. They fought at
Vimy in 1917 and at Arras in 1918 as well
as at many other places. There was un-
imaginable suffering and loss. But ul-
timately there was victory, and with
victory came a new sense of nation-
hood. A stronger, more independent.
Canada emerged.
However Canada's gain in stature
and dignity in the world community
was made at great personal cost. By
1918, thousands of homes were touched
by the seemingly endless arm of death.
Thousands more still were struck
with the loneliness of suffering, the loss
and the grief in another, more terrible
war a mere 21 years later.
Men and women from all parts of
Canada joined the proud Canadian
Army, the Royal Canadian Navy and
the Royal Canadian Air Force to fight
in the Second World War.
They served until 1945. Finally, the
threat to world freedom Was no more.
The cost of war has been tremen-
dous: 66,655 men and women gave their
lives in the First World War, 44,893 in
the Second World War and yet another
516 in Korea. Tens of thousands more
were wounded.
" Standing together. in two worldewars
and in Korea, we showed the world
what kind of people Canadians are;
what we believe in and what we would
die for.
The acts of faith and courage of our
veterans and our war dead are part of
the story of Canada's development.
They gave all they could to help build a
better life for Canada and the rest of the
world.
November 11 is a day for remember-
ing this sacrifice. We will not forget it.
We are committed, as Canadians, to
make real the dreams of those men and
women who have fought and died to
build a better world.
A better world
But if we in Canada are to•make good
use of the opportunity to build a better
world, there must be a deeper striving
for a basic national unity. •
Therr must also be a more vital
awareness of Canada's place in the •
world and there must be support for
closer harmony among nations.
We have three wars and the heroes of
three generations to remember today. '
We also have a future to confront.
Our prayer should be that we try to
fulfill the dreams for which these
Canadians served, fought and died.
eellacourt Cemetery, France: Canadian soldiers, alt.
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