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 \u2014 especially the one that began this tradition \u2014 seems remote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The First World War, although conducted overseas, wasn\u2019t distant; it touched virtually every Albertan\u2019s 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) \u2014 Canada\u2019s contribution to the British ground-force. One family that felt the impact of the war lived just outside the gates of today\u2019s Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. On the east side of Glenbow Road is the ranch that Thomas James homesteaded in 1905.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thomas\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the end of WWI, the James family of Glenbow suffered further losses. Tom\u2019s wife died in 1926 and a few months later, Tom\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tragically, the War to End All Wars didn\u2019t. The next generation found themselves embroiled in another worldwide conflict. Sid James\u2019s only child, Phyllis, volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force Women\u2019s Division. She was one of the many Canadians who worked on Canada\u2019s home front to support the Allied Forces overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n