Citizens paid their respects to fallen soldiers at Old City Hall: Photo gallery
On Nov. 11, Toronto paid tribute to fallen soldiers at Remembrance Day ceremonies held across the city.
Remembrance Day
Nov. 11 reminds Mennonites of commitment to non-violence
On the night before Remembrance Day, it’s a tradition in Tim Schumaker’s house to tell his children the story of their ancestor. “I would say, ‘Here’s another way to sacrifice; this is how we respond to enemies,’” he said. And Schumaker then tells the story of a Mennonite American Revolution soldier, led by a deep conviction of faith, who refuses to fight. Tried and convicted by a military court, he is executed for holding onto his principles of peace and non-violence.
D-Day vet remembers the cycles of war
Allan Dick helped liberate France with two wheels and a rifle. “We had bicycles, airborne bicycles, but we didn’t use them,” he said. “We walked faster.” Dick, now 92, landed at Juno Beach on the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. His regiment, Hamilton Light Infantry (HLI), operated as a reserve brigade during the invasion. Nevertheless, he was wounded in the leg on June 17, 1944 and sent back to England for treatment; he spent five days in hospital and then re-joined his regiment to finish the war. Unlike Dick, not all of his friends survived the war.
Navy vet recalls the gifts and sacrifices of war
William Lines remembers that the Second World War changed his life … for the better. “I got a wife out of it,” he said with a smile. “I met her in Montreal. I wouldn’t have met her if I hadn’t been stationed there.” Lines added that he also received a valuable education during the war and that led to employment with Bell Canada after the war.
A son recalls his father’s wartime survival stories
Around Remembrance Day, Michael Warren’s son recalls his father’s toughest wartime memory in Belgium during the Second World War. “My dad said the Germans knew exactly where they were,” Daniel Warren said. “Sometime during the night, (his father’s unit) started getting bombed and the commanding officer told everybody to ‘Stay in your trenches. Don’t get out.’ In the morning, my dad was the only one alive. He lost 19 of his friends. He said, ‘It’s just pure luck.’”
10 places to honour our veterans
Ceremonies honouring Canada’s war veterans are going on throughout Toronto and surrounding areas on Nov.11. Here are 10 places in the GTA where you can pay your respects.
Conference explores silence and wartime memory
For Elizabeth Olive, remembrances of war are sometimes few and far between. “My grandfather was a prisoner of war,” she said, noting his experience in Asia during the Second World War. “He died many years before I was born – I never met him – but I learned of his story through my mum and I knew that I needed to follow that up.”
Westwood students learn meaning of war and peace
As they have for the past three years, on Remembrance Day, the students at Westwood Middle School in East York will read aloud the names of soldiers who attended the school in the past and who died in the Canadian armed forces. And while Principal Marc Sprack reminds the students of the need for peace in the world, he recognizes the opposite still exists. “Peace is part of war,” he said. “(But) we can’t just talk about peace without offering the dichotomy.”
She sells poppies to honour her father
It’s rush hour. Amid the buzz of conversation and crush of passersby at Scarborough Town Centre, Sarah MacIntosh sits at a table adorned with red poppies. “My father belonged to the army. He was… in World War II and I just carry on his legacy,” she said.
Veteran’s son learns father’s story from recovered flight logbook
On one of the last pages of his father’s old pilot’s logbook, Dave Ward Jr. saw his own name written down. Dave Sr. often took Dave Jr. up for casual flights at the Brampton Flying Club well after his time in the armed services. “I never knew that he had kept track of all of our flights together,” Ward Jr. said. “That’s pretty cool.” During the Korean War, Flying Officer David Ward logged over 1,148 hours teaching pilot recruits of the Royal Canadian Air Force how to survive in the sky.