(no subject)
Here in Canada, it's Rememberance Day. A solemn moment and one that gives pause for a rememberance to those that died at war for Canada.
There was a comic that I first picked up nearly 20 years ago, and still keep around, mainly because of the moving story inside it that told a tale of life and death for Canadian soldiers in the trenches of WWI: http://www.cuteybunny.com/Comix/Tommy1a.html
Canada was been born as a nation in 1867, and it was a scant 47 years later, in 1914, when it went to war. The First World War was one of the bloodiest conflicts the world has ever seen. And it's trenches were probably the most brutal and horrific enviroment that the sons and brothers and fathers that were sent ever had to endure.
More than 66,000 of the sons, brothers and fathers that were sent to France were killed and over 11,000 were simply never found, likely many were buried in the muck and mire of the mud-filled trenches and No-Man's Land.
The Vimy Memorial was erected as a memorial to thoes that died in France. A somber tribute to the dead, and not to victory or glory. That's likely the reason why it survived WW2, while the occuping German troops defaced and destroyed many French monuments, Hitler (who actually fought for Germany near Vimy) admired the Vimy Memorial and actually ordered a detachment of SS to stay and protect it from any other soldiers that might try to deface it.
By the end of WW1, nearly %10 of Canada's entire population was wearing a soldier's uniform.
While Canada was born half a centry before, WW1 was it's baptism, and became such a defining moment in the nation's history that virtually every town, no matter how small, has a cenotaph dedicated to the men that never returned home.
There was a comic that I first picked up nearly 20 years ago, and still keep around, mainly because of the moving story inside it that told a tale of life and death for Canadian soldiers in the trenches of WWI: http://www.cuteybunny.com/Comix/Tommy1a.html
Canada was been born as a nation in 1867, and it was a scant 47 years later, in 1914, when it went to war. The First World War was one of the bloodiest conflicts the world has ever seen. And it's trenches were probably the most brutal and horrific enviroment that the sons and brothers and fathers that were sent ever had to endure.
More than 66,000 of the sons, brothers and fathers that were sent to France were killed and over 11,000 were simply never found, likely many were buried in the muck and mire of the mud-filled trenches and No-Man's Land.
The Vimy Memorial was erected as a memorial to thoes that died in France. A somber tribute to the dead, and not to victory or glory. That's likely the reason why it survived WW2, while the occuping German troops defaced and destroyed many French monuments, Hitler (who actually fought for Germany near Vimy) admired the Vimy Memorial and actually ordered a detachment of SS to stay and protect it from any other soldiers that might try to deface it.
By the end of WW1, nearly %10 of Canada's entire population was wearing a soldier's uniform.
While Canada was born half a centry before, WW1 was it's baptism, and became such a defining moment in the nation's history that virtually every town, no matter how small, has a cenotaph dedicated to the men that never returned home.