Tag Archives: WWI
He Was Only 15
With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published on November 12, 2014. When we visited the Commonwealth Military Cemetery at Essex Farm, near Ypres, Belgium, our guide pointed out the grave […]
Revisiting The Trenches of Passchendaele
With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published four years ago today – November 8, 2014. The years between 1914 and 1918 were the wettest Europe experienced during the 20th century, […]
Just A Reminder
I came across this sign at Vimy Ridge in France. It is a beautiful place to visit, but not without its perils. You can walk into the craters if you wish; other than the sign there is really nothing to stop you, except a strand of rope. But you do so at your own peril. […]
Remembrance Day 2017
A hundred years ago today the First World War was dragging on with no end in sight. The troops were mired in the mud of the trenches of France and Belgium. It was not a pretty war. My grandfather fought in that conflict. To honour his memory, each November 11, for as long as I […]
Passchendaele at 100 – I
When I opened up my newspaper Tuesday morning, the first thing that I saw was coverage of Prince William’s trip to Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. I’d been concentrating on other things in my life and had forgotten that date was fast approaching. Canadians fought at Passchendaele, and while […]
Walking Vimy Ridge
Just a photo essay today, a supplement to yesterday’s post. The indoor pictures were taken in the tunnels around Vimy. There are, if my memory is correct, hundreds of kilometres of tunnels in the area as well as a similar number of trenches You really should visit as the pictures really don’t tell the story.
Vimy Ridge Centenary
It was one hundred years ago today that Canada became a nation, or so the social historians like to put it. Nationhood is an elusive idea. Canada became a country on July 1, 1867. We were not completely independent though. It wasn’t until 1931 that our Supreme Court actually became supreme. Before that you could […]
Remembering
I only know her name, nothing else about her. And where she lived in 1916,a place that I had never heard of before, Manor, Saskatchewan. By 1921 she lived in Verwood, a place that no longer exists. Today we remember those who died in the war, fighting for our freedom. I will be thinking of […]
Vimy Ridge
It was 99 years ago today that Canada became a nation. At least that is one version of the narrative. Canada became a country on July 1, 1867. It severed legal ties, more or less, with the United Kingdom on December 11, 1931 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster. But military independence came […]
They Ate Their Horses
I published this post on Remembrance Day last year, but wanted to publish it again because for me it brings the First World War home personally. 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 […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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