Lloydminster
in Canada and the World
World War I was the great tragedy of the 20th
Century. For Canada, especially, it represented the loss, not only
of a generation, but of a generation of leaders imbued with the sense of
optimism and altruism that peaked in the Edwardian Age.
We can say "especially Canada" because of our country's
immediate and devastatingly large commitment of material and
personnel. Almost 650,000 Canadians enrolled in the armed services,
an astounding 10% of our total population. On top of this, Canadians
were involved in much of the worst of the horrific slaughter that passed
for warfare. From withstanding the first chemical warfare attacks at
Ypres in April of 1915, through the battles of the Somme, the much
heralded victory at Vimy Ridge, on through the quagmires at Passchendaele,
to the Canadians who died at Mons mere minutes before the Armistice on
November 11, 1918. The upshot was that 62,500 were killed;
almost 175,000 wounded and every town and district in the country
withstood four long years of a steady arrival of dreaded telegrams
announcing that another of our own had perished.
So it was that after the War, Canadians tried to make sense of
the great sacrifice. They struggled to justify the tremendous loss
and vowed to always remember those who had given their lives. As
part of their remembrance, communities across Canada constructed memorials
and cenotaphs as expressions of their regard for the significance of the
episode and their commitment to acknowledge the sacrifice of so many.
Thus, it happened that in April of 1926, Lloydminster unveiled its
testament to the memory of our fallen. ...
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PHOTOGRAPHS


Lloydminster
veteran Bert Lafoy stands in front of a tank similar to the one he
operated in WWII.

Captain Jack Kemp of Lloydminster is
presented with his regiment's colours by the Queen in England. |