Lest We Forget

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month each year, there's something besides Roots and Tim Hortons that makes me a proud Canadian.

Almost 620,000 Canadian men and women served in the First World War at a time when the population of the country was only a few million. Of these, more than 66,000 were killed.

At the Battle of the Somme the British Forces suffered their heaviest one-day loss ever—more than 57,000 men. More than 700 men from the Newfoundland regiment were killed or injured during this battle.

Canadian soldiers formed the main assault force for the raid on Dieppe, where more than 900 Canadians were killed and almost 2,000 more were taken prisoner.

More than one million Canadians served in the Second World War and approximately 45,000 gave their lives.

Canada's navy was the third largest in the allied forces, and its air force was the fourth largest.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae, 1915 (written on the battlefield)