Memorial Day Tribute

[Steve Campbell]

Well, tomorrow, November 11th is Memorial Day here in Canada. A day we take to honor our veterans who have fallen in war. I saw a thread here, that I thought was quite good, about War Memorials in your home town. I took some shots to contribute but never got around to it. So I felt this was as good an idea as any for my 2000th post. Basically I have a few shots of some of the memorials they have in my home town of St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada to honor the memories of our veterans who sacraficed so much.

Fisrt up is the main war memeorial in town. This was opened in 1921 I believe. There is a great picture of that day, with huge throngs of people gathered for it, many on the rooftops of the very houses in the background. You can see they honor infantry, navy, but also fisherman and foresters who aided the war effort. Incidently, the building that houses the periscope from U-190 is right next door.

[Steve Campbell]

Next is a statue that is a replica of 5 others that stand in Europe at various memorial sites of WW1. I believe they are in France. It's a caribou, the symbol of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, which suffered huge losses in WW1, especially at the battle of Beaumont Hamel. This is located in a local park, which has a number of memorials.

[Steve Campbell]

Here's the plaque at the base of the "caribou" as it's known. You can see the various WW1 battles listed.

[Steve Campbell]

Here's a great statue not far from the caribou. This is a well detailed rendition of a WW1 infantyman throwing a grenade, most likely a Mills Bomb. It's known as the fighting Newfoundlander and is one of my favorites. The sun at the time made a good shot hard to get.

[Steve Campbell]

Here's a better shot from the rear. They did a good job on the field gear etc.

[Steve Campbell]

The base showing the name.

[Steve Campbell]

The rear insciption of the base.

[Steve Campbell]

Not far from the Fighting Newfoundlander is what I believe to be a British 25 pounder field gun, which is also a tribute to veterans. Newfoundland was a colony of Britian for both World Wars, not joining Canada till 1949.

[Steve Campbell]

Here's the plaque attached to the 25 pounder.

[Steve Campbell]

Finally, no Newfoundland War Memorial post would be complte without mention of Thomas Ricketts, a local lad who won the Victoria Cross in 1918 at the age of 17. This is the original plague that stood for many years.

[Steve Campbell]

The original plaque was replaced this summer by a small pavillion. This is the main display. I hope this thread reminds everyone to remember all the soldiers of all nationalities who never made it back or suffered greatly after, many of them so young.

[pete]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iUwjY94-QE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbjSdilS8qU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knxR-Q2VoBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ua0bafvWUg

[Steve Campbell]

Some great footage there Pete. can always count on you to add to my Newfoundland themed posts.

[GEBIRGS-JAGER]

Never Forget

Thanks for posting Steve. Brian

[pete]

.

The typical comments from TALIBAN JACK (NDP Jack layton) though....on cbc.ca for the ceremony though in part 1.

I quote: "Thinking about my father, and the sacrifices THAT generation made for us".......even when the host made refrence to the fact that we have a war on now, he couldnt mention that there are MANY generations of veterans now, esp those fighting this minute, good old taliban jack. It is interesting to see that there is a "specific group" refered to when its Nov 11. Nothing about the fact that we are at war now and hes probably the furtherest thing froma red blooded canadian we will ever know. Right up there with that american chick who went to hanoi to see the POWs.

HMS NELSON making light of gale swept seas, escorted by the cruiser, HMS NEWFOUNDLAND, in the western Mediterranean.