On April 9, 1917, John Hugh Kennedy, a sergeant with the 49th Battalion (Loyal Edmonton Regiment) was killed in action at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Born in Glengarry, Ont. on Sept. 16, 1889, Kennedy’s family had moved to St. Albert when he was a boy, setting up a farm north of our town. On July 1, 1915, he and his younger brother Daniel would volunteer to be a part of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. Daniel would be killed at the Battle of the Somme a year later.
These names, along with cousins Harry and Clarence Maloney and Albert Goodman, are carved into the cenotaph, which many of us pass by throughout the year without a moment’s thought. Yet the cenotaph was erected to remind us of the horror and tragedy of war.
All wars have their inhumanity, their atrocities, their heartbreaks, and their bitter lessons, but the First World War brought with it a carnage that shaped the way we see war altogether. A modern war on the European continent, where one of this magnitude had not been fought since the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815), the Great War shocked the world, and no one ever wanted to see another war of this nature again.
Like all wars, it was brought about by a re-balancing of power amongst states, and to stop this occurring again the League of Nations was created. The League system would eventually fail, leading to the Second World War, but lessons were learned and the United Nations soon emerged from that confrontation. Its role was to try and manage the power struggles between states, limiting the spread of conflict to restricted geographic areas to maintain international peace and stability. To date, this system has been relatively successful.
Sadly, conflict is the continual condition of the human race — our history books are replete with such stories and facts. Even after the creation of the United Nations system, we have had conflicts and wars — the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Middle East and the Gulf War, along with countless peacekeeping missions — attest to this. Our latest conflict, the war in Afghanistan, is just a further reminder of this truth.
We have a proud military history in Canada that stretches back before the First World War, but Canada’s nationhood was born at the Battle of Vimy Ridge — a battle planned, led, fought and won by Canadians, for the first time in our nation’s history. Since that date, Canada, as a sovereign state, has continued to serve and has participated in many conflicts and confrontations around the globe, doing its part to maintain international peace and security. Most of us will know of at least one person who has served our country overseas, and it is on this day we should remember them.
Sadly, we have also suffered our losses, and for those men and women who did not come home to celebrate birthdays, weddings and holidays with their friends and families, we have a duty to pay tribute to them. Their efforts and sacrifices allowed us to live in relative peace and security here in St. Albert. This is why we give honour and should be grateful on this day. Lest We Forget.
John Kennair is an international consultant and doctor of laws who lives in St. Albert.
