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.  ... more

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.