Positioned atop a hill boasting a commanding view of the ground below, the Sundre and District Cemetery's site is not altogether dissimilar to Vimy Ridge, the local legion's comrade chaplain said Sunday during a remembrance service marking 100 years since the historic battle that played a major role in forging Canada's global reputation as a nation that had come of age.
The main difference would have been the ruinous wastes of deadly trench warfare that left in its wake a devastated no-man's land strewn with corpses of the fallen, said Tim Kirby.
The chaplain of the Sundre Legion 223 led the local service commemorating the victory that in April 1917 saw Canadian soldiers faced with staggeringly daunting odds nevertheless emerge triumphant over German troops in a matter of days where the British and French forces had for months been routed at tremendously deadly costs.
However, Canada's divisions certainly did not achieve their stunningly resounding victory without shedding a sobering amount of blood. Of nearly 11,000 casualties, 3,598 lost their lives in the terrible struggle that often ended up with bayonet charges and hand-to-hand combat.
"This is a solemn occasion," he said, addressing about a dozen people during a cold, windy afternoon with overcast skies.
"Yet it's time to celebrate who we are as Canadians. That we're a people of honour. That we do what we say we're going to do. A people who make wrongs right ó no matter the cost."
The legacy of Vimy Ridge ó and all of the sacrifices our soldiers have made to stop oppressive forces ó is one we have all inherited with the responsibility of passing on to future generations, said Kirby.
But specifically speaking of taking and holding Vimy Ridge, the chaplain said, "It's our story that no other military force can tell."
Working together against great odds, Canadians fought, were wounded and died, he said.
"The experience of achieving the objective ó is us together. Each one doing their part, no matter what.
"In this, we became a nation."
Also participating in the ceremony were a few other members of the local legion, including Harvey Shevalier, who laid a wreath, as well as several members from the Olds 185 Air Squadron and the 3025 Didsbury Army Cadets, who took turns reading excerpts from an account of the battle.
In concluding the service, Kirby encouraged those who attended to keep alive the legacy of helping others no matter the cost to themselves.
