As we pause for a moment of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we mark the anniversary of the declaration that ended The Great War.  Armistice Day was declared in 1919 on the first anniversary, and in Canada this name was changed to Remembrance Day in 1931. For many Canadians today, war — especially the one that began this tradition — seems remote.

The First World War, although conducted overseas, wasn’t distant; it touched virtually every Albertan’s life in some way. As part of the British Empire, Canada was automatically swept into the conflict, and so created the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) — Canada’s contribution to the British ground-force. One family that felt the impact of the war lived just outside the gates of today’s Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. On the east side of Glenbow Road is the ranch that Thomas James homesteaded in 1905.

Thomas’s two oldest sons worked on the ranch and at Glenbow Quarry. They had both been born in England and when war was declared by Britain, they joined the CEF. In May 1916, at the age of 25, Sid volunteered. His older brother, Fred, signed up less than a month later, at the age of 28.

Sid was a Lance Corporal in the 211th Battalion. At Ypes Salient, Belgium, on 30 May 1917, he was transporting ammunition by train. When he stopped to oil the engine, a shell explosion overturned the locomotive, crushing his feet and fracturing his hand. Unable to regain complete use of his right foot, he was discharged in February 1918. Returning to Canada, he spent two years in Cochrane, then took a job with the Parks Department as a janitor in Banff. 

Fred was a Private assigned to the 50th Battalion. On 6 June 1917, two weeks after Sid was injured, Fred was severely wounded. Although he was transported to Casualty Clearing Station No. 23, he died of his wounds within 24 hours. He is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery (five miles west of Bethune), France.

After the end of WWI, the James family of Glenbow suffered further losses. Tom’s wife died in 1926 and a few months later, Tom’s only remaining son, Robert, was killed as a result of an accident when transporting hay in a severe winter storm. The rest of the James family left the ranch in 1928. Their original brick house was demolished in 1960.

Tragically, the War to End All Wars didn’t. The next generation found themselves embroiled in another worldwide conflict. Sid James’s only child, Phyllis, volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division. She was one of the many Canadians who worked on Canada’s home front to support the Allied Forces overseas.

Phyllis was part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) which established 151 schools and involved 104,113 men and women in Canada, between 1940 and 1945. The Veterans Affairs Canada website tallies their contribution: “By the end of the Second World War, the BCATP had produced 131,553 aircrew, including pilots, wireless operators, air gunners, and navigators for the Air Forces of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.”

Women like Phyllis “trained and worked at BCATP facilities, learning ground trades and doing important support work for the program and the operation of the air bases.” Phyllis was stationed in Yorkton, SK and attained the rank of Leading Aircraft Woman. Unfortunately, in 1943, twenty-year-old Phyllis became ill and died.

On Remembrance Day, we honour the members of the Canadian military. Whether they fought overseas, or served behind the frontlines or in Canada as support personnel, they protected the freedoms we take for granted today. Many were injured; some made the ultimate sacrifice. Their bravery and altruism inspire us to take care of others and to work for the common good, a legacy we need to remember in these particularly troubled times.

This article was originally printed in THE BERGEN NEWS and is being reprinted with permission.