Author Archives: Lorne Anderson
The Path of Progress
Once upon a time, more than 30 years ago, I worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). No, I was not a policeman; I was a civilian employee, a Micrographic Equipment Operator. I’m not surprised you have never heard of such a thing. It is a trade that has been rendered obsolete by changes […]
Visiting the In Flanders Fields Museum
In 2009 I was in Ypres, Belgium for a day. I made the In Flanders Fields Museum my first stop. In 2014 it was a priority once more; as I wanted Vivian too experience it too. The Museum is located in the medieval Cloth Hall in the centre of town, a building completely destroyed during […]
You Turn Me On
(For some reason my phone posted this a few hours early. When you travel, sometimes the technology doesn’t travel as well as you would like.) Tonight at midnight, for the 41st consecutive year, Joni Mitchell’s song “You Turn Me On I’m A Radio” will be broadcast on on Ottawa radio station CKCU-FM . It was […]
The Horses of Caen
“We should go to Caen,” Vivian said. So we went. I had originally planned on staying in Caen during our time in Normandy, but Vivian was insistent that Bayeux was the better choice. She was right. So I was a bit surprised at her suggestion (which may not have been a suggestion, it didn’t seem […]
Too Young To Fight?
When we visited the Commonwealth Military Cemetery at Essex Farm, near Ypres, Belgium, our guide pointed out the grave of V.J. Strudwick, who was killed in action January 14, 1916 at age 15. The official age to enlist was 18, for overseas service 19. Recruiters though generally didn`t ask probing questions, and identification documents were […]
They Ate Their Horses
Today we remember. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 the guns fell silent. The bloodiest war in human history to that date was over. But not for everyone. Today, as Canada pauses for the traditional two minutes of silence, I will be remembering my mother’s father. He […]
The Last Post
Tonight at 8, for the 29,758th time, the Last Post, the traditional salute to fallen warriors, will be played at the Menin gate in Ypres. It’s been a nightly ritual since 1928. Volunteers from the Last Post Association (and sometimes hundreds, even thousands of others) gather each evening to honour the British Empire dead of […]
Politically Incorrect
The words jumped out from the printed page in the display case at the Juno Beach Centre, the Canadian D-Day Museum in Courseilles sur mer, France. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, speaking to the Canadian Parliament, asking for a declaration of war against Nazi Germany. In 1914 Canada did not issue a declaration […]
In the Trenches of Passchendaele
The years between 1914 and 1918 were the wettest Europe experienced during the 20th century, or so I have been told. Those years coincided with the trench warfare in France and Belgium, literally millions of soldiers facing each other from trenches they had dug a few metres from each other. With the bad weather, to […]
Walking The Walls
One of the major differences I have found between the North American and European communities I have visited is the matter of walls. In North America we really don’t have any. That’s due, I assume, to the newness of urban life on this continent. By the time the settlers began building cities walls had in […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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