People gathered at cenotaphs across southwestern Ontario Sunday to pay tribute to those who served, and continue to serve, our country.
November 11 was especially significant this year as it marks the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day.
An agreement was signed between Germany and the Allies to end hostilities in 1918 at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” A formal peace agreement, called the Treaty of Versailles, was reached a year later.
Of the 2,200 residents in Galt who enlisted in the First World War, 239 never returned home.
Glen Drinkwater, now a retried Major, says his uncle Harry was 22 and uncle Andrew was just 19 when they enlisted .
“One came back. One didn’t.”
Galt’s Battalion 111 never fought as a unit but more than a hundred Royal Canadian Fusiliers were decorated for valour, including Andrew Drinkwater.
“Their sacrifice wasn’t in vain,” says Glen. “I’m not sure how many lessons we learned from all this but at least we’re here and we’re talking to each other.”
The number of men from Waterloo County who died in the war was 501.
Some communities held parades Sunday, while others stood in solemn silence as they honoured those who lost their lives in the First World War and the wars that followed.
At 5:01 p.m., churches in many cities rang their bells 100 times to mark the centenary.
St. Louis Roman Catholic Church and Trillium Lutheran Church in Waterloo, and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Kitchener were just a few that took part in the nationwide “Bells of Peace” event.
It emulates the moment in 1918 when church bells across Europe tolled, announcing that four years of war had officially come to an end.
Click to see our photo gallery of Remembrance Day services and events.
