Sacrifice of First World War casualties honoured from London to Fredericton
Published Wednesday November 5th, 2008
The numbers are horrifying. On average during the First World War, 44 Canadians were killed every day for 1,560 days.
In total, 68,000 men and women from this country died, including 2,347 from New Brunswick, before the war to end all wars stopped Nov. 11, 1918.
Now thanks to a memorial ceremony entitled 1914-1918 Vigil to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, those names are crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Canada to come home.
It started Tuesday in London, England, where the names of all 68,000 war dead were projected one at a time onto an exterior wall of the Canadian embassy.
Four hours later, at exactly 5:15 p.m., the names were projected on the Memorial Wall at the Alumni Memorial Building at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.
Similar ceremonies across Canada were held at the same time, adjusted for the various time zones.
The names will continue to be projected on the walls in London, Fredericton and the rest of the country from dusk to dawn for seven days until Remembrance Day.
Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson was in Fredericton for the ceremony and said the First World War changed every community in the country and some communities never recovered.
The vigil reminds us that freedom isn't free and comes at a terrible cost, paid by many sons and daughters, he said.
Thompson said the vigil is a remarkable project and a moving tribute that will unite Canadians.
The vigil is the idea of Canadian actor R.H. Thompson, lighting designer Martin Conboy and Canada's National History Society.
The vigil in Fredericton was sponsored by UNB and the New Brunswick Provincial Capital Commission.
UNB president John McLaughlin said the Alumni Memorial Building was built in 1955 as a tribute to the New Brunswickers who served in the First and Second World wars.
He said more than 300 UNB students and faculty served in the First World War.
"When I first heard about this vigil, I was overwhelmed," said McLaughlin.
He said in some ways, the world is coming to the end of a long goodbye as there are few First World War veterans alive.
"We must remember," he said. "That is our responsibility."
Lt.-Col. Chris Hand, chief of staff at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, said the First World War was a conflict on a scale the world had never seen.
The sacrifice of those men and women made 90 years ago will never be forgotten, he said.
Hand said that while the terrain and the adversary are different today, Canadian men and women are still serving their country with courage and sacrifice. He said there are 249 New Brunswickers in harm's way in Afghanistan.
"We can all be very proud of their service," he said.
Judge David Dickson of Fredericton, who was among the Canadian troops that landed in Normandy, France, on D-Day in the Second World War, said the ceremony Tuesday was impressive.
"My uncle was killed in 1918 in February in the Royal Flying Corps," he said. "He was 28 years old. He came from Marysville."
Dickson said he liked that fact that the vigil was happening everywhere from London, England, to Fredericton and across Canada.
Walter Brown, chairman of the capital commission, said the vigil is the kind of project the commission should be supporting to bring New Brunswickers together.
"I thought the ceremony was fantastic," said Brown, who had a grandfather who served in the First World War and survived.
There's nothing more important than honouring the veterans who lost their lives and those who came home but were affected forever, he said.
After the speeches, the participants placed 100 poppies bearing the names of New Brunswickers killed during the First World War on a silver platter in front of a book of remembrance by the Memorial Wall.
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