Conflict

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo- the theme for December 1st is Furry Things. 

The path heading towards the permanent galleries in the War Museum is lined with large photographs from Canadian military history. The one at right dates to the Second World War, with a child reaching for his father's hand as he goes off to war. Even if my Canadian readers haven't seen the photograph before, they have probably seen it elsewhere- this photograph was immortalized in a commemorative 2 dollar coin that is still in circulation.

The galleries go in chronological order, and the first one focuses on early conflicts. First Nations tribes conducted their own warfare, with hostilities between tribes to be expected long before contact with outsiders.

Here are reproductions of their weapons from pre-contact times.

A model of an Iroquois village is set up, showing its placement during a siege by a hostile tribe.

The first outsiders known to have made it to North America were the Vikings, a thousand years ago. They made settlements, and found themselves both trading and in conflict with the people who were already there. In time the settlements would fail and the Vikings would return back from where they had come.

Some of the weapons of that time can be seen here.

Hundreds of years after the Vikings, more Europeans came across the ocean, and established a lasting presence. The French established nation-to-nation relationships and alliances with some of the tribes in eastern Canada, and thus would be drawn into conflict with the enemies of their new allies. The result would be a period of time known as the Post-Contact Wars.

Colonists were expected to serve in a militia capacity.

Healing

 We begin today with a powerful painting, The Soldier Returns, painted by David Whitaker in 2019. This is his father-in-law, Russell Kaye, at Juno Beach that year. Kaye had been reluctant to go with other Canadian veterans that 75th anniversary year, but was persuaded by his family to do so. Yet the trip had a profound effect upon him.

The Dutch were liberated by Canadian forces as the war came to a close, and that has resulted in the strongest of friendships between two countries. Veterans who have gone back, along with their families, speak to how beloved Canadians are to the Dutch, who have never forgotten what our soldiers did for them.

A video was playing, taken by the son of one of those veterans, accompanying his dad.

Emily Otterman escorted her veteran father on a trip back to the Netherlands, and was deeply moved by the experience. She engaged in a series of artworks inspired by it.

Last Salute is one of her works.

This is the photo album of Jeanne Caron, a nursing sister who went to war. She and her husband, who had also served, wouldn't speak of the war to their families, but their children and grandchildren convinced her of the importance to tell her story. This was, all in all, a very moving exhibit. I plan on going back before it closes.

Hostility

 On the same day the Japanese military launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, they launched attacks elsewhere in the world, including at Hong Kong, where Canadian soldiers were stationed. The survivors of that battle would spend years in Japanese POW camps, subjected to inhumane treatment and starvation. Those who survived that were haunted by it. This first photograph features one of those survivors, George MacDonnell, back then and in recent years. The Hong Kong monument is near Green Island; I haven't photographed it in some years, though I passed nearby when I was up at the Rideau Falls.

The survivors were allowed to add an HK in red patch to their jackets coming home, a nod to the suffering they had endured.

Another of those survivors was William Allister, who experienced the worst as a POW, internalized the trauma for years, and then found healing in an extended trip to Japan with his wife, and found outlets in writing and art.

I was reminded of an American veteran featured in Ken Burns' documentary on the war, who found himself a POW in similar treatment, and for years held onto anger towards the Japanese, until he was able to put that down.

This is Returning As A Bird, by William Allister, dating to that time, showing a mix of Western and Eastern influences.

This plate, commissioned by members of a military hospital unit, depicts their travels from Canada to the European theatre, where they served in the Italian campaign. It belonged to a nursing sister, Margaret Mowat.

Warriors

 Men who joined the merchant navy during the war contributed enormously to the war effort and did so under danger on each crossing, bringing their cargo to Britain that kept the Allied forces going. 

Yet it took decades for veterans of the merchant navy to be treated equally to their counterparts.

Women served extensively during the war in support and medical capacities. They tended to form post-war associations on their own.

Veterans formed Royal Legion halls, which are still around today. It was a place they could come to, share stories, and be with those who understood what it had been like.

Elaine Goble is a Canadian artist who in the last quarter century has done an extraordinary series of portraits of veterans, and whose collection is part of the War Museum collection. Two replicas hang here as part of the exhibit. Remembrance Day 2000 is an early work in that series, depicting Kenneth Edwards.

Normandy Warrior is a powerful painting of Cree veteran Philip Favel, done in 2020.

The words of veterans speak volumes.

Last Voices

 I try to get to the War Museum each year before Remembrance Day, as I find it easier to photograph without so much crowds. This year it couldn't be helped, and I walked out to the Museum after the national service, taking a couple of shots as I approached. The snow was a welcome sight.

The special exhibit on right now into early January is a poignant one. Last Voices Of The Second World War features the stories of veterans, many of which are audibly recorded, telling their stories of life during and after the war. I found it very moving.

Coming home wasn't the same for everyone. Indigenous veterans like Tommy Prince, who was the most decorated soldier in the famous Devil's Brigade saw discrimination after the war. Japanese descended Canadian soldiers saw the same.

The same applied for black veterans and women, all of whom had served with distinction.

These documents speak volumes. At left is a train ticket, while the others are discharge documents.

The train ticket was that of a soldier who spent the war as a prisoner of war after the fall of Hong Kong and finally was able to return home. That ticket brought him the rest of the way home, and he held onto it.

Discharge documents included things like certifications. If your work as a soldier had transferred over into a trade, such documents were your way into that trade in civilian life.