I posted this to Facebook, I feel it would be reasonable to post here too. There is some redundancy of what others have already said (ie: Dan Carlin's podcast, seriously take the time to listen to it).
It's hard to believe it's Remembrance Day already. Seems like I just picked up my poppy.
Given the turmoil going on around the world at the moment, we all really need to take a second to reflect.
I can't imagine what our soldiers went through in Iraq and Afganistan.
Admittedly, I don't know much about the Korean War... I should, but I don't. I'll be rectifying this shortly.
I had three grandparents serve in World War II, and had the pleasure of getting to know two very very well. I think part of the respect I've had for my grandparents was knowing they served and I don't think I could.
For those that aren't overly familiar with World War I, I highly recommend listening to Dan Carlin's "Countdown to Armageddon" series from his Hardcore History podcast. World War I was unbelievable. Did you know the first British solider killed in WWI (John Parr) is buried in the same cemetery as the last British solider killed in WWI (George Price). The years of bloodshed, the battles, the chemical weapons, the trenches, and the war essentially started and ended in the same place.
I don't know much pre-WWI with regard to the Canadian military. I know of the Boer War, and some of the pre-Confederation conflicts such as the War of 1812.
Today's the day to sit back and reflect on past conflicts. The lives lost, the lives ruined, the families torn.
I truly believe the use of military should be the means of last resort. But sometimes its necessary. The invasion of Belgium in 1914; Hilter's invasion of Poland in 1939; the Taliban's attack on New York in 2001 all certainly qualify.
If we're going to ask our neighbors to defend us with their lives, we have to ensure there is ample reason. Then, take the time to thank them.
I truly believe if there is to be any national holiday, it should be today. I'm disappointed that today is not a statutory holiday across the nation. I'm proud that Remembrance Day is the most important holiday in Nova Scotia. Retailers are allowed to open any day of the year they wish, for whatever hours they wish (including Christmas) except November 11th.
I'm rambling at this point, if you're still reading be sure to take the time to reflect.
Fellow Nova Scotian's The Trews did so in this fantastic song:
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Not to detract from the ceremonies in Ottawa this morning, but were those F-35's flying the missing man? I was on a small screen and I could be wrong....
Last edited by holden; 11-11-2018 at 10:03 AM.
Reason: sp
Just got home from taking my parents to the Military Museum for the ceremony. Glad to see it well attended and a lot of younger people.
Unrelated, but I took my folks home and my parents decided to give me some stuff, among them just a strange gift.
My mom lived in Lethbridge during WW2 and worked on my Grandpa's farm. There was a german POW camp, and the farmers used German labor. One of the prisoners, actually translated Mein Kampf from German to English and typed it out and leather bound it and somehow my Grandpa got it, and then gave it to my mom, and they gave it to me as well as some books on the Holocaust memorial.
Anyways, I'm flipping through this book and this person who translated it into three leather bound books, has all of these notes in German, I'm almost interested in getting them translated, but it seems clear that he was a pretty hardcore nazi.
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Wow 100 years since the end of the war to end all wars. I was in Paris during the anniversary of the First Battle of the Marne. It is crazy to think that since then I have moved twice, changed jobs, gotten married, and have a two year old daughter while 100 years ago the 4.5 years were spent with Europe on fire and hordes of young men pointlessly dying for God, King, and Empire.
It is also very sad to think that despite being an armistice this not the end of peace. With the German revolution, and Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire falling apart, much of Eastern Europe and the Middle East was in chaos. The next years brought more wars and revolutions eventually leading up to the sequel in 1939.
Has anyone else been following the Great War YouTube channel and their excellent weekly recaps? Here is their post from today:
Quote:
On this day 100 years ago, in the morning hours of 11 November 1918, the German delegation agrees to the Allied armistice terms and signs the Armistice of Compiègne. At 11am the fighting on the Western Front would stop. Some generals disagreed with the armistice and kept fighting till the bitter end, some soldiers would die during the final minutes of this 4 1/2 year long war.
Millions of men had died, were wounded or crippled before them, millions of people had been displaced or traumatised by a war that spiralled into the biggest conflict in human history in 1914. Four Empires were now disintegrating and their citizens were starving and fighting for a new order at the same time. In Eastern Europe alone, 11 November doesn't just mark Armistice Day, it marks Independence Day too.
The winning nations had undergone huge industrial and cultural changes n the past 4 1/2 years, the balance of power among them was permanently shifting. The smaller nations and colonies that fought in this war wanted something in return for their sacrifice.
And the Spanish Flu was still spreading among soldiers and civilians alike.
So, in every sense this 11 November 1918 marks a turning point in history but it certainly wasn't a switch that suddenly brought world peace. It marks a beginning and an end for a variety of processes that shaped our modern world. But even if history is not always contained in certain dates, these dates are a great opportunity for us to remember and to reflect. Lest we forget.
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Last edited by FireGilbert; 11-11-2018 at 03:41 PM.
Listen for the bells at dusk. Churches across the country will be ringing them as they did 100 years ago.
I went to services here this morning, they had a service similar to one held 100 years ago after the Armistice. This is the home church for the Essex & Kent Scottish, my father’s Regiment.
Given the current global climate, with increasing nationalism and a changing global balance of power, there are so many parallels to the time just before WWI.
People thought at the time that a major war between world powers would be too costly and would either never happen, or would end fast if it did. You can sense a similar complacency today.
If ever there was a time to step back and learn the lessons of WWI, it's now.
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If you are not moved by walking the grounds around Vimy then I feel sorry for you. Quite possibly one of the most impactful places I’ve visited on Earth. The terror the men must have felt being thrust into that situation is unimaginable. Their suffering is our freedom. I will not forget.
I agree completely, going around the different battlefields, all of which are in such close proximity to each other. Seeing the seemingly random cemeteries that are strewn across the land, hearing how farmers still bring up the bones of war every spring, both in terms of skeletons and unexploded ordinance.
If anyone is planning on travelling to France to see the battlefields, I would highly recommend Beaumont Hamel as well. If Vimy is where a nation helped honour and cope with the loss of their war dead, Beaumont Hamel is where Newfoundland mothers buried their children. I have never been to a place with the emotional impact of Y Ravine Cemetery, reading the tombstones where mothers lamented the deaths of their children, in graves they knew they would never be able to visit. The families and the mothers of the children who lay in Beaumont Hamel didn't want the land which housed the remains of their children to be converted back into farmland. So the country of Newfoundland raised the money to purchase this land from the farmers and it sits as it did all those years ago, serving as the best example of world war 1 trench systems, the horrors of the war, and the impact on those left behind.
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Maybe, except to me WW1 was about the various secret alliances and colonial aspirations dragging countries into war.
I would think that today, we're seeing alliances breaking apart.
If anything the similarity is more along the lines of ww2 with the rise of more extreme leadership and the desire for isolationism.
The tinder that could be lit is more about economics and in the case of Russia extreme paranoia.
That is a good point. There are probably comparisons to both situations.
I see the rise of China similar to the rise of the U.S. in the beginning of the 20th century. The balance of global power is changing and whether or not that leads to new alliances, we will see. You are right, some traditional alliances are being eroded, a large part is due to the increase of American isolationism. But I expect other alliances, especially in Europe, will fill that vacuum. As the West loses power to China, Saudis and maybe to a more imperialist Russia, the possibility of tensions increases.
Similar to how European powers before WWI were losing grip, there was a last throw of death to maintain the status quo.
Regardless, I think we can all agree that Remembrance Day has never been so important. As time goes by, we have to avoid complacency and learn from history. The factors that caused both great wars still exist today.
Honouring the human sacrifice is always just as important as remembering the causes of course. Thinking about how 10,000 Canadians were killed or wounded taking Vimy is mind blowing. Our generation has never had to experience that in large part due to the sacrifice they made and our pledge to remember them every year.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 11-11-2018 at 11:20 PM.
WW1 619,363 Canadians enlisted, 424,000 served over seas. 51,748 died as a result of enemy action. Canada's population 1918 8,001,000. 7.8% of Canada's population served in uniform. .6% of our population were killed in enemy actions
WW2 - 1,100,000 Canadian served in WW2, Canada suffered 44,000 deaths in enemy actions. Canada's population 12,292,000 in 1946. 9% of Canadians served, .4% of Canada's population were killed.
The average age of a Canadian soldier in ww1 was 26.
The average age of a Canadian Soldier in ww2 was still 26. However this was distorted slightly by the returning vets from WW1 who reenlisted. The officers core in WW2 was older while the non-commissioned core usually averaged about 24 years of age.
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WW1 619,363 Canadians enlisted, 424,000 served over seas. 51,748 died as a result of enemy action. Canada's population 1918 8,001,000. 7.8% of Canada's population served in uniform. .6% of our population were killed in enemy actions
WW2 - 1,100,000 Canadian served in WW2, Canada suffered 44,000 deaths in enemy actions. Canada's population 12,292,000 in 1946. 9% of Canadians served, .4% of Canada's population were killed.
The average age of a Canadian soldier in ww1 was 26.
The average age of a Canadian Soldier in ww2 was still 26. However this was distorted slightly by the returning vets from WW1 who reenlisted. The officers core in WW2 was older while the non-commissioned core usually averaged about 24 years of age.
The thing that I always think about is how is would have felt among the civilian population at the time. If you weren't serving overseas, you would almost certainly have family or friends who were. Especially during WWI when communication and media coverage were not as advanced as in WWII and later wars, many people would just wait weeks, months or years to hear something from their friends and family. It must have been so stressful for family members to just wait. Many people didn't know if their loved ones fate until the war ended.
I would love to read a book or hear accounts of what the feelings were on the street level in Canada during that time.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 11-12-2018 at 12:41 AM.
