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Best Business / Services Auto Service Centre 82 Main Street North, Georgetown, Ontario L7G 3H3 905-873-6127 CANADA REMEMBERS 2019CANADA REMEMBERS 2019 NOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTWe Shall Forget � e sun is going down over the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. People have already started to gather to pay trib- ute to those who died in the 'War to End All Wars', to remember those whose names have been carved into the walls of this triumphal arch, a memorial built in the 1920s. More than 54,000 names here, each belonging to someone whose remains were never found. As I wait in the crowd for the beginning of the evening Last Post Ceremony, I chat with three men who have journeyed here from Australia. "We are here for my great-uncle," says one. "He was my great-grandfather," says another. "We found his name on the walls this a� ernoon," says the third. Now the crowd on this Tuesday evening grows silent; the space inside the arch reverberates with the rhythmic cadence of marching. � ree buglers take their posts, United Kingdom legionnaires pre- pare to lay their wreaths. With the exception of the World War II Nazi occupation, this ceremony has played out every single night since November 11, 1928. It is a crucial rite of passage for anyone plan- ning a First World War journey of remembrance. � e town of Ypres itself is a perfect starting point for a pilgrimage to those many places that populate Canada's history: Passchendaele, Zonnebeke, Ar- ras, Vimy, Beaumont-Hamel. Seminal battle� eld sites are a short drive from the town itself. One of the biggest Commonwealth Cemeteries holds court here. � e Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, replete with interactive displays, artifacts and recre- ated dugouts and trench systems, tells the tale of the Ypres Salient. � e emotional impact of visiting the cemetery itself - Tyne Cot - is overwhelming. Farms and meadows surround the cemetery, stark contrast to the concrete German pillboxes that still squat in- side the burial ground's walls, foreground for a procession of head- stones that seem to march into the distance as if in fu- tile crusade. Nearly 12,000 graves here. � e remains of nearly 9,000 are un- identi� ed; their headstones are emblazoned: "Known to God." "� ey shall not grow old, as we that are le� grow old." Here at Tyne Cot we share those feelings with crowds who descend from a parade of buses. Having gotten a very early start on the morning a� er the Menin ceremony, our remembrance at St. Julian, a poignant Canadian memorial, is an exer- cise in solitude, a lonely moment of tribute. A granite statue 10-metres tall reaches skyward from a little grove of cedars imported from Canada. � e de� ning feature of this memorial is a carved representation called the "Brooding Soldier". It has been created in the "arms re- versed" posture, the traditional military salute to the fallen. I make note of both that pos- ture and the orientation of the memorial itself. When I align myself with the perspective of the "Brooding Sol- dier" I see a plowing tractor stirring up dust, orange-roofed barns. Not quite such an idyllic vista greeted Canadian soldiers who were stationed here on April 22, 1915. � e orientation of the statue is signi� cant. From the very direc- tion this statue faces, the Germans attacked with chlorine gas, history's � rst large-scale gas attack. � e "reverse arms" pose is equally signi� cant. By the 24th of April, 2000 Canadians had fallen here. By Mark Stevens Photos by Sharon Matthews-Stevens dier" I see a plowing tractor stirring up dust, orange-roofed barns. idyllic vista greeted Canadian soldiers who were stationed here on April 22, 1915. statue is signi� cant. evening Last Post Ceremony, I chat with three men who have journeyed here from Australia. "We are here for my great-uncle," says one. "He was my great-grandfather," says another. "We found his name on the walls this a� ernoon," says the third. silent; the space inside the arch reverberates with the rhythmic cadence of marching. � ree buglers take their posts, United Kingdom legionnaires pre- pare to lay their wreaths. With the exception of the World War II Nazi occupation, this ceremony has played out every single night since November 11, 1928. It is a crucial rite of passage for anyone plan- ning a First World War journey of remembrance. for a pilgrimage to those many places that populate By Mark Stevens Photos by Sharon Matthews-Stevens At the going down of the sun has been created in the "arms re- versed" posture, the traditional military salute to the fallen. ture and the orientation of the memorial itself. perspective of the "Brooding Sol-