In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Toronto. The first world war – the war to end all wars – ended one hundred years ago today. Armistice was November 11 at 11 am. For many years we have celebrated Remembrance Day. Like most families, I have ancestors who fought in the Canadian (uncles and grandfathers) and American (uncle) armies of the day. Growing up, each November 11th we had a minute of silence at 11 am to honour and respect the fallen.
My high school had a model of the monument at Vimy Ridge which was given a place of honour in the front hall for a few days around November 11th. I saw the name Ypres but could not say it. I learned the wonderful and sad poem, In Flanders Fields, written by Dr John McCrea just days before he too died in the war.
The Globe doesn’t publish Sundays, so yesterday it celebrated the fallen with many aricles including this one “Portraits of sacrifice:” Records of enrolment in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.) are readily available either on line or via the Ancestry.ca indexes.
