In Honour Of Their Memory

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, and Armistice Day and Veterans Day elsewhere. On this date in 1918, the guns of the Great War fell silent across Europe. It is a day of commemoration for the fallen of war.

These photographs are from last year in my photoblog, taken at the National War Memorial here in Ottawa, where today a national service will take place.

The ceremony itself begins with the march in of the veterans, led by the pipes and drums.

After the ceremony is done, the pipes and drums lead the march past.

Veterans are right behind.

It also includes active members from each branch of the Canadian Forces.

I close this post with two statues by the same artist, Ruth Abernethy, both larger than life, and both a twin of the other. The first is here in Ottawa, on Green Island where the Rideau River meets the Ottawa River. Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae was the Canadian soldier, doctor, and poet who wrote the poem In Flanders Fields during the First World War, and would not live to see that war's end.

The other version of the statue is here in his home town- Guelph, in southern Ontario, where it stands outside the city's Civic Museum. In his hand he grips a notebook, with the first words to his most famous poem inscribed on the bronze page. A man whose words have left a lasting impact upon the world.

If Ye Break Faith With Us

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, Armistice Day or Veterans Day elsewhere. Marking the end of the First World War, the date has come to commemorate the fallen of war in general. This year is a strange one, with Covid-19 restricting so much else, including commemoration.

John McCrae was a Canadian officer, soldier, poet, and doctor who went to the fields of Europe, fought, suffered, and saw death in the First World War. Out of his experiences came arguably the definitive poem of that War, one that still holds its power today.

Canadian artist Ruth Abernethy is known for her sculptures, including a matching pair of sculptures of John McCrae. One is in his home town of Guelph, Ontario. The other is in Ottawa, seen here in pictures from my photoblog taken in 2016. It is set on Green Island, where the Rideau River meets the Ottawa River, and in a park setting where there are other military monuments. Abernethy renders her subject larger than life but approachable, capturing the expression and humanity of the person. Here McCrae is sitting, a copy of his poem in his hand, with poppies at the base of the sculpture.