In our family, it was a solemn day. Dad and I would watch the ceremony , then dad and his brothers would get in touch on the phone. Dad and Uncle Andy had fought in Normandy , Uncle Andy first wave, Dad because of the weather delay,third.

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

Lest we forget !

I'll lift my coffee cup on a toast Paul, I feel like Canada is my home.

A very powerful day for Canadian's.
As a post war kid, the ww2 vets were all around us, veterans of the Great War as well.
Luckily, I listened to their stories which then burned into my memory.
Imo, it is impossible to overstate their experiences in combat- and their losses.
God Bless our Canadian Veterans, God Bless our Friends. We are blessed.

I would remind everyone that there are serving and retired CF members who were in Gulf Wars 1 and 2, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and more.

Steve;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day treated you acceptably and this finds you and yours well.

Thanks for the reminder that we've sent our men into all sorts of messes that didn't include either World War or Korea. I personally worked with and knew veterans from such wonderful tropical vacation spots as Cyprus, Sarajevo and Mogadishu. Sent there and asked to keep a peace that didn't exist under absolutely crazy rules of non-engagement.

Indeed I remember Uncle Mervin who was a forward artillery observer and Uncle LeRoy who was a tail gunner on a Lancaster, but I remember the others as well.

Thanks for your service for all those years too Steve.

All the best to you folks as we head into winter.

Dwayne

Hat’s off to all the men and women who served

I usually post one or two poems on Remembrance Day.



The 29th Battalion, Canadian Corps, 9 April 1917. Troops advance into no man's land at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Tattered Hill

The dawn came slowly and they wondered
How loud the guns
Non-stop they thundered
To spit upon the mob encumbered
Who chanced to pass that way

And of the men
Whose fate would fly there
Of the ones
Who did not die there
Of the crazed
That cursed and cried there
Came the trumpet's call

To die! To die!
Alone in rotten mud
To die! To die!
In a thick and frowzy flood
That surrounded all whose feet did step
Upon the heaped, collective mess.
To die!

No smiles amongst the pungent throng
No time to cast goodwill around
The ones that stuck
Propped up in muck
They'd die, but would not fall!

Surreal
To feel the devil's sting
That struck, infecting everything
And those who still continued breathing
And the corpses that the mud kept heaving
Would have no rest.

And when the day used up the sun
The darkness came
And swallowed up the ones
That death had left behind!

Bastard Reaper!
The men that suffered on condemned
Knew that you had not arrived for them.
Because the devil called your name
Instructing you to leave the sods that
Screamed to die
But screamed to die in vain!

And finally when the coffle throng
Upon the stale, black mud sat down
To count the ones who soldiered on
Remorse

How long does hell go on?

And why does the devil craft
The things that God and man
Both seek to squall upon?

Alas, the souls who screamed and weeped
Would wait 'til dawn
In hopes that they might sleep

Envelope me, oh numbing shroud
The voices call for death!

Stephen Redgwell – 2005

Did anyone watch the CBC coverage from Ottawa or one of the provincial telecasts?

Hey Steve, Bill here. I got up this morning & turned on the tv & watched till I couldn't see anymore. Dad came home, my uncles & cousins came home so I have no idea why it hits me so hard but it does. Got up & got out for awhile, went to look at encor in 250 sav.??? Re bore?? Got to Epps, waited in line, guy in front of me went home with it!!! My luck. The media including tv does a pretty good job of not letting anyone forget but I don't think most realize just how horrible it really was or could be. Prison camps WOW just WOW. Hopefully never again at least to that extent. Have a good evening. Bill out. 🐾👣🇨🇦

If you ever get to Ottawa, check out the War Museum. Or drive to Borden. The museum there isn't big, but it's interesting. They did have an air force museum on the south side too.

I joined the crowd at a new 2nd gathering, (the Cenotaph was limited to 25 due to Covid) and had another memorial at the cemetary in the newly designated Vets' section. Again we were limited but there to 50 folks,so had a full contigent. In the late 40's lots of single vets headed North to trap or mine, and lots died here with no known family or marker, so the local Legion is attempting to identify the various graves and install headstones and footstones designating them as vets for posterity. Kinda humbling as I knew lots of them, but not as vets.

It was good that you could be there.