Memories cast in stone
Every year we wait until the clock comes around to eleven o’clock, the literal moment of the Armistice: the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. We observe solemn and moving rituals designed to honour sacrifice. The Great War has gone from the theatre of war to the theatre of memory, a stage for courage and tragedy. It was a war revolutionized by weapons scarcely imaginable a generation earlier. Quantity was the difference between victory and defeat, fought by leaders for whom no cost in lives was too high. Armies lunged at each other in bloody offensives that left the lines of trenches unchanged. Sacrifice was proven in blood; 65 million combatants dying at the rate of 6,000 per day.
A place to mourn and remember
It is getting harder to understand what the soldiers of the Great War went through in body and mind. So many came back a different person. So many lives were never to be the same ever again. Governments were contorted by the guilt of sending young men to face the futility of an interminable war of attrition fought for no cause except survival. Here in Canada, the reality of warfare was distant and obscure. Families were numbed by a terrible sense of emptiness. They needed a place to mourn and come to terms with the enormity of their loss. The Cenotaph was granted a sort of ‘sainthood’ as the genuine, universal symbol of Remembrance dedicated to our heroes, both past and present. It proved to be a place to put many sad perspectives into a more complete context. Our Cenotaph at the Old Town Hall gives us a special place to find solace in the midst of natural beauty and comforting quiet.
Honouring their service
It can be a struggle to imagine the soldiers’ experiences of the Great War. They accepted that there is an obligation that comes with citizenship. Regimental life was different. Enlistment meant getting used to seeing the same faces day after day. It might seem obvious to us now, but in Canada, this would have been very different to a young recruit used to a rural society that lived in families. New soldiers travelled with a special idealism born of youth and the intoxicating atmosphere of defending Crown and Country. Duty was an always wearying, sometimes dangerous routine. Renowned for their military skill, dignity and leadership presence, our Great War heroes deserve our admiration. For those not comfortable with the military type analogies or displays, we can still know the historic facts without being bound to repeat them. We can all consider our privilege of living a lifetime of days. We can appreciate and honour the extreme sacrifices made by all victims of war. Two minutes of silence.
Gratitude and humility
Gratitude and humility as we remember those who served and sacrificed.