C7

Michael Staples

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When historians Will and Ariel Durant wrote in 1968 "that in the in more than 3,421 years of recorded history the world had only enjoyed 268 years of peace," it was enough to make civilization stop and take a collective gulp.

The revelation was stunning to say the least.

On a day like today - a time when we stand at attention and remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice - the words written by the Durants in the Lessons of History serve as a bitter reminder of how war and conflict has come to dominated our lives.

Rarely does a day go by that we do not hear of bloodshed in some corner of the world brought on by violence that justifies itself in the name of war.

In Canada, we have been fortunate to live in an environment where peace prevails.

But that doesn't mean we haven't felt the effects of war on foreign soil and paid the ultimate price in the loss of lives.

Over the last 100-plus years, Canadian soldiers have fought in a number of conflicts, starting with the Boer War in South Africa in 1899.

To quote historian Mike Halsey, it "was a dirty little conflict which involved all the Boer Republics and the British empire. It started as a result of cultural resentment between the Boers (Dutch settlers) and immigrating British."

That particular war, which ended in 1902, cost Canada, which came to the aid of the empire, 267 lives. Approximately 7,000 Canadians served, including members of the famed Royal Canadian Regiment.

A little over a decade later, Canadians were once again fighting, this time in Europe.

Both Canadians and Newfoundlanders served under the British flag.

The Great War, the one dubbed the war to end all wars, saw close to 620,000 Canadians make the trip overseas with more than 66,000 killed and 174,623 wounded.

The conflict illustrated other undesirable elements of mankind, such as the misery we inflicted on animals by sending them to the front to do our lugging and hauling.

According to the website firstworldwar.com, on the Western Front alone during that conflict, more than 256,000 horses and mules died. That figure is appalling. The pain we caused these poor creatures is unimaginable.

The Second World War (1939-45) saw 1.1 million Canadians serve with 42,042 killed and another 54,414 wounded - all in the fight to stop the spread of Naziism.

Despite the appalling loss of life, this conflict, like others, was filled with numerous tales of heroism - reached under adverse conditions.

One such person was the late Carl Olson of Harvey Station.

During the Second World War, he dodged many bullets and shells as he did his part in helping to liberate Europe and defeat Nazi Germany.

The amazing thing about Olson, who died in 1990 at the age of 70, is that he accomplished this and other tasks by driving a Sherman tank - literally through thick and thin.

The former member of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers and Eighth Canadian Hussars, operated the only Canadian tank to survive the D-Day invasion and the liberation of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Korean War (1950-1953) saw 26,791 Canadians serve in the Army's Special Force with 516 losing their lives and 1,567 wounded. During the 1990s, Canadian soldiers served as peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia. While we were not officially involved in the fighting, more than 20 died doing their jobs in the troubled region.

Over the last seven years, 133 Canadian soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan in support of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom, as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Aside from soldiers, we have lost outstanding civilians in war such as Vatche Arslanian, a former deputy mayor of Oromocto. He was killed April 8, 2003 while working in Bagdad for the International Red Cross during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

As we stop today to remember all the brave Canadians who have gone off to fight and the ones who lost their lives doing so, let's hope that mankind will eventually come to its senses and make war a thing of the past.

Michael Staples covers the military for The Daily Gleaner. He can be reached at staples.michael@dailygleaner.com.