Shelter from the Storms of War (Psalm 116:3-4. Isaiah 2:4)

 Presented to Alberni Valley Community Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Glenwood Centre, 11 November 2025, by TSA Major Michael Ramsay, Royal Canadian Legion Chaplain (Padre), Branch 293. 

Almighty God. You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and, remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You thanks for all who served their country in time of trial.

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.

 

Today is Remembrance Day, when we remember the many people who left home to serve in the first world war and all the conflicts that followed. Here are some of the stories of those who left their family here in the Alberni Valley:

 

George Morton Bird wrote this from the front on April 16th, 1917: “I suppose you have read all about the Great Easter Advance... If you should get an opportunity to see any of the moving pictures of it, you might see me amongst the other boys. I am the first man in a party of 12 or 13 advancing in single file… Arthur Lewis, Pryde, Tom and the rest of us are all O.K.,”

A few weeks later George Bird was not okay. He was dead.

We know Redford Street in town. The Redford family had 3 sons.  Edward, 29, was wounded by a shell that killed 2 of his companions. William,19, was sent home wounded and Douglas, 20, was killed in action.

 

Charles Samuel Bannell enlisted in November 1916, and less than a year later, on Oct 30th, 1917, he was dead

 

William Clarke served in the 7th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. In 1916, at age 19, he was dead

 

William Stewart, PPCLI, fought in the 2nd Battle of Ypres in Belgium; he never returned from Belgium. He was 26.

 

The Roll of Honour lists 25 people from our community here who gave their lives in World War I.

 

Then there was World War II and young people from our valley continued to die. David Ramsay was a Flight Lieutenant. He was awarded the Belgian Cross of War in 1940 and on April 28th, 1944, he was dead. He was 23 years old.

 

George 'Bud' Hamilton was a young Hupacasath man. He was a residential school survivor. He landed at Juno beach on June 6th, 1944. Canadian forces that day suffered 1,096 casualties, 381 were killed in action. Canadian casualties alone in Normandy exceeded 18,700. Bud Hamilton survived all of these horrors. But as the fighting continued, an artillery shell exploded, severed his spinal cord and he slowly and painfully succumbed to his injuries.

 

James George was an only child. James managed to survive the war, and with the money he earned bought a fishing boat. One night there was an explosion on that boat. He died.

 

Eduard Clutesi, hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation, was a genius. He taught himself to play violin. He could draw a portrait perfectly.  He served with a mortar unit. He died in the battle of Canes. He was 26.

 

It is important we remember those who died for our community, for our country, for our nations, for us. I am honoured, as Legion Padre to have been able to share some of these stories today. Lest we forget.

 

The Salvation Army, of which I am an Officer, also served in these wars. In World War I, The Canadian Salvation Army ran hundreds of huts, canteens, rest facilities, and hostels in Britain, France and Belgium where troops could bathe, do laundry, eat decent food, and prepare themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually for the difficult return to the trenches. And when they did return to those trenches, they were met with more Salvation Army Officers providing for their care. Will Bird wrote: “Every front-line soldier of World War I, knew that his true friend was the man in The Salvation Army canteen.”

 

I am honoured that we were able to serve our servicepeople while they were serving us during the terrible times of war.

 

In 1918, after WWI, The Salvation Army organized their first ever nation-wide appeal for funds: the money raised was used to open shelters across Canada in order to help our veterans cope, transition, and become part of Canadian society again.

 

Today, because of this opportunity, The Salvation Army still runs shelters, one in this community, whose purpose is still to help people survive, cope, and reintegrate into society.

 

For the service people who returned from the wars, life could still be very difficult. This is why we have our much-needed Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion is 100 years old this year. It was formed to help our service people returning after WW2.

 

Today, we are here to remember all our service people; we are here to remember all those who served, fought, lived and died for our ancestors, our families, for us.

 

The war to end all wars has not yet been fought and people from our country, our province, our valley continue to serve.

 

Genocide, conflict, death of young people and others continues in our world. And as long as it does, we must all do our best to stand up to injustice, to work for peace, to serve, to save, and to above all else on this day – 100 years after the birth of our Legion -  to honour our veterans, and to remember all those who fought for us, in our name, and especially those who didn’t make it home.

 

Lest we forget.

 

BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Remembrance Day Ceremony 2025

Presented to Alberni Valley Community Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Glenwood Centre, 11 November 2025, by TSA Major Michael Ramsay, Royal Canadian Legion Chaplain (Padre), Branch 293. 

Remembrance Day Service

1000  -Doors open

            -Platform guests begin to arrive

1040  -Parade march on

1045  -Acknowledgements                                              MC

            -O Canada

1047  Invocation                                                                Padre

INVOCATION: Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth forever more.

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, time stands still for a moment; and we remember those who died, not for war, but for a world that would be free and at peace.

 

1048  -MC and Mayor (opening remarks)                   MC

 

1050? -Scripture Reading and Prayer                            Padre

Psalm 116:3-4:

The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came over me;

I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“Lord, save me!”

Isaiah 2:4:

He will judge between the nations

and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

 

PRAYER: Almighty God. You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and, remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You thanks for all who served their country in time of trial.

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.

 

1057? -In Flanders Fields                                                    MC     

1100  -Last Post, 2min. Silence, Reveille, Piper’s Lament,        MC

            Act of Remembrance                                                  MC

 

1110  - Address                                                                   Padre

Today is Remembrance Day, when we remember the many people who left home to serve in the first world war and all the conflicts that followed. Here are some of the stories of those who left their family here in the Alberni Valley:

 

George Morton Bird wrote this from the front on April 16th, 1917: “I suppose you have read all about the Great Easter Advance... If you should get an opportunity to see any of the moving pictures of it, you might see me amongst the other boys. I am the first man in a party of 12 or 13 advancing in single file… Arthur Lewis, Pryde, Tom and the rest of us are all O.K.,”

A few weeks later George Bird was not okay. He was dead.

 

We know Redford Street in town. The Redford family had 3 sons.  Edward, 29, was wounded by a shell that killed 2 of his companions. William,19, was sent home wounded and Douglas, 20, was killed in action.

 

Charles Samuel Bannell enlisted in November 1916, and less than a year later, on Oct 30th, 1917, he was dead

 

William Clarke served in the 7th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. In 1916, at age 19, he was dead

 

William Stewart, PPCLI, fought in the 2nd Battle of Ypres in Belgium; he never returned from Belgium. He was 26.

 

The Roll of Honour lists 25 people from our community here who gave their lives in World War I.

 

Then there was World War II and young people from our valley continued to die. David Ramsay was a Flight Lieutenant. He was awarded the Belgian Cross of War in 1940 and on April 28th, 1944, he was dead. He was 23 years old.

 

George 'Bud' Hamilton was a young Hupacasath man. He was a residential school survivor. He landed at Juno beach on June 6th, 1944. Canadian forces that day suffered 1,096 casualties, 381 were killed in action. Canadian casualties alone in Normandy exceeded 18,700. Bud Hamilton survived all of these horrors. But as the fighting continued, an artillery shell exploded, severed his spinal cord and he slowly and painfully succumbed to his injuries.

 

James George was an only child. James managed to survive the war, and with the money he earned bought a fishing boat. One night there was an explosion on that boat. He died.

 

Eduard Clutesi, hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation, was a genius. He taught himself to play violin. He could draw a portrait perfectly.  He served with a mortar unit. He died in the battle of Canes. He was 26.

 

It is important we remember those who died for our community, for our country, for our nations, for us. I am honoured, as Legion Padre to have been able to share some of these stories today. Lest we forget.

 

The Salvation Army, of which I am an Officer, also served in these wars. In World War I, The Canadian Salvation Army ran hundreds of huts, canteens, rest facilities, and hostels in Britain, France and Belgium where troops could bathe, do laundry, eat decent food, and prepare themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually for the difficult return to the trenches. And when they did return to those trenches, they were met with more Salvation Army Officers providing for their care. Will Bird wrote: “Every front-line soldier of World War I, knew that his true friend was the man in The Salvation Army canteen.”

 

I am honoured that we were able to serve our servicepeople while they were serving us during the terrible times of war.

 

In 1918, after WWI, The Salvation Army organized their first ever nation-wide appeal for funds: the money raised was used to open shelters across Canada in order to help our veterans cope, transition, and become part of Canadian society again.

 

Today, because of this opportunity, The Salvation Army still runs shelters, one in this community, whose purpose is still to help people survive, cope, and reintegrate into society.

 

For the service people who returned from the wars, life could still be very difficult. This is why we have our much-needed Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion is 100 years old this year. It was formed to help our service people returning after WW2.

 

Today, we are here to remember all our service people; we are here to remember all those who served, fought, lived and died for our ancestors, our families, for us.

 

The war to end all wars has not yet been fought and people from our country, our province, our valley continue to serve.

 

Genocide, conflict, death of young people and others continues in our world. And as long as it does, we must all do our best to stand up to injustice, to work for peace, to serve, to save, and to above all else on this day – 100 years after the birth of our Legion -  to honour our veterans, and to remember all those who fought for us, in our name, and especially those who didn’t make it home.

 

Lest we forget.

 

1117  -Hymn-O God our Help in Ages Past

1120  -Laying of Wreaths                                                 MC

 -Benediction                                                            Padre

BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

   God Save the King                                                  MC

Remembrance Sunday 2025

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, Remembrance Sunday, 09 November 2025, by Major Michael Ramsay, Royal Canadian Legion Chaplain (Padre), Branch 293.

 

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me bring love.

Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.

Where there is discord, let me bring union.

Where there is error, let me bring truth.

Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.

Where there is despair, let me bring hope.

Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.

Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

 

O Master, let me not seek as much

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love,

for it is in giving that one receives,

it is in self-forgetting that one finds,

it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,

it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.

 

INVOCATION: Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth forever more.

Today as at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, time stands still for a moment; and we remember those who died, not for war, but for a world that would be free and at peace.

Those who lay down their lives in battle are almost never those who put their lives at risk by declaring war. Those who choose to fight a war are rarely those who fight in that war. Those who tell us why they send people to fight rarely stop and ask the person on the front why they are in the fight. Those who decide that soldiers will die at war almost never themselves die at war.

Remembrance Day is a lamentation. It is when we remember our family members, community members, loved ones and others who are no more because they died, and were in a position to die, before peace could be obtained in a quarrel they did not pick. We will remember them.      

 

Psalm 116:3-4:

The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came over me;

I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“Lord, save me!”

Isaiah 2:4:

He will judge between the nations

and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

 

PRAYER: Almighty God. You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and, remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You thanks for all who served in time of trial.

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.

 

VIDEO: Last Post, 2min. Silence, Reveille, Piper’s Lament,       

Act of Remembrance

                                                          

Laying of the poppies                                           

                                               

BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Remembrance Day Address 2024 (Romans 5:7-10 and Isaiah 11:6)

Presented to the Alberni Valley community at the Community Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Glenwood Centre by Major Michael Ramsay, Padre, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 293, on 11 November 2024

 

August 4^th,1914 Canada, as part of the British Empire joined World War One. Four years later, when the fighting ceased on November 11^th, 1918, there were 888,246 Commonwealth soldiers who never returned home – over 18% of them, 160 000, were Canadian, Newfoundland, and First Nations soldiers.

 

Then from September 10^th, 1939, until August 14^th, 1945; 1,159,000 Canadian, Newfoundland and First Nations service people served in World War 2 and when the war was over, a further 44,090 Canadian, Newfoundland and First Nations service people had laid down their lives.

 

Robert (Robin) Watson was just 14 years-old when he joined the Army. On Thursday, at the Field of Honour. we held a memorial service for him; he was 96 years old. He was, I believe, the Valley’s last surviving Word War II veteran.

 

Many people marched out of the Valley to serve God, King, and Country in the first world war, the second world war and the conflicts that followed. In past years here I have shared many of their stories.

 

Today I would like to add to those stories, remembrances of George (Bud) Hamilton, James George, Eduard Clutesi and others. They were among the Nuu-Chah-Nulth soldiers who left the Valley here offering their lives for us, our ancestors, our descendants, our families, our friends and our allies.

 

George, 'Bud' Hamilton, as he was known, was the youngest boy in his family. He was a young Hupacasath man. He was a residential school survivor. Even so, he volunteered to serve with the Canadian forces during the second world war. He was a bright and resourceful young man. On his tests before entering the military, it is recorded that he was above average intelligence.

Letters he wrote home, to his dad Clifford, still exist. He wrote about how he applied to transfer to the navy. He wrote about how he looked forward to going fishing with his dad when he returned home from the war.

 

Bud Hamilton landed at Juno beach with the Canadian Forces on June 6th, 1944. Canadian forces on that day alone suffered 1,096 casualties, 381 of whom were killed in action. By the end of the Battle of Normandy, Canadian casualties exceeded 18,700. George, Bud Hamilton experienced all these horrors and Bud Hamilton survived to fight another day. But then...

 

as fighting continued into Belgium, in one particular small town, an enemy artillery shell exploded very near to him; it severed his spinal cord, and he slowly succumbed to his injuries.

 

He would never go fishing with his dad again.

 

Bud had a daughter whom he never knew. She was born after he died. I understand that she is living today in Idaho with a large family of her own - whom Bud never met.

 

There is also James Goerge. He was the son of Cecil George (George Hamiliton's brother). James was his only child. James survived the war; James made it back and with the money he made, he bought a commercial fishing boat.

One night he tied his fishing boat at a sandbar near where the orange bridge is today. There was an explosion, and he died in his boat that he bought with his pay from serving in the war.

 

I have mentioned Eduard Clutesi before, hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation. [Josh Goodwill, I believe, sits as heredity chief in this seat today.] I will now share a little more of Eduard Clutesi’s story as I have come to understand it.

 

Eduard Clutesi was of superior intelligence, his military tests showed. He was a genius. He taught himself to play violin. He could draw your portrait perfectly. He was very quiet. He did not say much.

 

He served with a mortar unit. This was precise work. It involved intricate mathematical calculations. He served well. He was killed with his mortar unit in the battle of Caen and he was buried with his military comrades in Europe. He never did return.

 

Our First Nations, in many cases, were forced to renounce their status, in order to be enfranchised – until as late as 1960. Yet many, I am told saw the greater good and thus served and found true friendship with their Canadian Comrades and many died for us. Thank you. Thank every veteran who lived fought and in some cased died for us.

 

This week as well as laying to rest a veteran who signed up to serve in the war as a 14-year-old child, I also got news that my sister’s only child passed away suddenly at 22 years of age and it dawned on me that of the 200 000 soldiers who died fighting with the Canadian forces in the World Wars, the majority of them were children – no older than my niece. Canada’s youngest soldier was 10 years old.

 

Our service people, our family members who fought and died; their parents never saw their 22-year-old children, their 26-year-old children, their 17 or there 12-year-old children again.

 

The veterans who served and survived those wars weren’t in their 90s then, like they are now, if they are still around. Mostly, they were children in their 20s or even younger.

 

Our service people who died for us and the veterans who lived and saw them die. Please let us remember them.

 

And in remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, Let us be better men and women, and give us peace in our time.

Lest we forget.

 

We will remember them.

Remembrance Day Address 2023

Presented to the Alberni Valley Community, 11 November 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay, Chaplain (Padre) Royal Canadian Legion Branch 293.

 

On May 17^th of this year, I walked the short walk from a parking lot to a monument on the ridge of a hill overlooking a town in France. There were sheep everywhere. One little lamb had escaped a fence and become separated from the flock; she desperately ran back and forth along the ridge looking, searching, hoping for someway to break through the fence; hoping to join her flock, looking for safety she bleated, she cried as she looked out terrified over the ridge. This ridge, on which she was lost and bleating, is Vimy Ridge

As I stood atop Vimy Ridge by the memorial to our Canadian soldiers, the symbolism of this bleating lamb running back and forth, looking for someway through the fence, was not lost on me.

April 9^th to 12^th, 1917, a brutal battle was fought as our Canadian soldiers desperately looked for a way to break through the fences and trenches on this very same ridge. Many had tried before. Many had died before. But here were our troops, trying to get over those fences and through those trenches; trying to climb the ridge, to succeed, to survive.

Our troops were able to secure the high ground on April 9^th; On April 10^th they secured the village and the crest of the ridge; the final objective fell to the Canadians on April 12^th. The battle was the first occasion when the four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. Our soldiers climbed through barbed wire fences, deep trenches, hazards and perils and accomplished what others had not - but at great cost: By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadians had sustained 10 602 casualties; 7 004 soldiers had been wounded, some never to recover, and 3 598 people breathed their last breath on that ridge overlooking that town in April of 1917.

On April 16^th, George Morton Bird, from the Alberni Valley, wrote this:

“I suppose you have read all about the Great Easter Advance, and the part the Canadians took in it. If you should get an opportunity to see any of the moving pictures of it, you might see me amongst the other boys. I am the first man in a party of 12 or 13 advancing in single file. I believe Jack Mathison and Edwin Davey were both wounded. Also one of the Greenards. Arthur Lewis, Pryde, Tom and the rest of us are all O.K.,”

George Morton Bird died of injuries sustained in a later battle in June 1917. People from our Valley served in many battles. The Roll of Honour lists the names of 25 people from our community here who gave their lives there in World War 1.

 

May 15^th and May 16^th of this year, I walked along a beach in France, in Dieppe. I looked out across this beautiful beach covered with large smooth rocks that gave way under my feet, drawing me inwards, drawing me downwards, backwards, toward the sea; as I stumbled, I looked up to see steep, steep cliffs and even ancient fortifications; in the evening they were beautifully lit up by an amazing sunset.

August 19^th, 1942, over 80 years ago, 6 100 mostly Canadian infantry arrived at this same beach. The same rocks that gave way under my feet gave way under theirs. Only they were wearing heavy packs and carrying weapons and supplies. Balance must have been near impossible. They would have been so heavy, soaking wet as the sea wanted to claim them for her own. And she claimed many. As the Canadians looked up at the sheer cliffs, I am sure it was not the beauty of the moment that captured their imagination but rather the sheer horror of having to find a way to scale those cliffs, sopping wet, heavy with gear, while being shot at. The fortifications seemed insurmountable to me this past May; the fortifications were impenetrable for many in August of 1942. 3 623 Canadians died on this small strip of beach. As I stood there 80 years later, watching the sunset over the water, this fact was not lost on me. 3 623 Canadians, after visiting this very same beach, never saw a sunset again.

Nelson Longeuay, of the Alberni Valley, was one of a few Canadians to survive Dieppe. Commenting on the raid 45 years later he asked, “what more could a man do than give his life?”

Many Canadians never returned from serving in World War 2. Twenty-two are on our honour roll from the Alberni Valley. One such person is Edward John Clutesi; born to be hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation, instead he gave his life for us, in August of 1944, in Normandy, at age 26.

As I walked silently along the beach at Dieppe this past May, I looked at the stones, the cliffs, the fortress, the waves, the sea and I imagined and remembered those who had gone before. Then I noticed a monument in a garden, in a place now called Canada Square, put there by the citizens of Dieppe. It reads:

On the 19th of August 1942

on the beaches of Dieppe

our Canadian cousins

marked with their blood

the road to our final liberation

foretelling thus their victorious return

on September 1, 1944.

 

This memorial does not talk about the futility of war. Neither does this monument glorify war. This memorial simply notes that those who died, “marked with their blood the road to our final liberation, foretelling thus their victorious return”.

The monument at Dieppe remembers the sacrifices of the Canadians on their beaches, celebrates their victorious return and final liberation. May we likewise honour the lives of all our servicemen and women of every time and place. Let us remember them and their sacrifice and continue to work towards a time where there will finally be no more war and all of our service people and everyone else can safely return, and, like the little lamb on Vimy Ridge, be re-united with our families once and for all – forever in Peace. Lest we forget. Lest we forget.

John 15:9-17: Greater Love Has No Man...

Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 15 November 2008; Swift Current Corps, 08 November 2009;Warehouse 614, 05 November 2017; Alberni Valley 05 November 2023 by Major Michael Ramsay

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends, John 15:13.

This is a season of remembrance in the Church. In Canada and other nations that fought in World War One it has been a time to reflect on the sacrifice of our soldiers, and our citizens who lived during that era and the times of conflict since. This is a time to reflect upon sacrifice as in a few very short weeks we are going enter into the advent season where we will remember the coming of Jesus as a small child and look forward – very soon - to His return in power. He lived, sacrificed and died for us, his friends.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends, John 15:13.

On November 11, 1918, the armistice was signed to end the Great War, the war to end all wars – the First World War. Canadians, our friends and our family, in service to God, King, and country, marched overseas to lay down their lives for our friends

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

On November 11, 1813, more than 200 years ago now, Canadians repulsed an horrific American invasion in the Battle of Crysler Farm – this was the last serious attempt to conquer Canada militarily. We did this with the help of our friends, the British and the First Nations. We laid down our life for our family. They laid down their life for us, their friends. This is outside the timeframe of the State mandate for Canadian Remembrance Day ceremonies as is the Boer War, a few years later (1899-1902), but…

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

On our November 11th ceremonies we remember our friends and families who headed overseas in the World War I and World War II, in service to God, to King, and to country to lay down their lives for their friends. Many of us have friends and family who offered up their lives up for their friends. My grandmother’s brother who left un Saskatchewan never spoke of the day they were surrounded by the Germans right up until he died.

My grandfather returned home to Canada from California, where he was working when war broke out, so that he could serve God, King and country in the Second World War. He eagerly grabbed some friends of his from Cut Knife and they drove over the Rockies to enlist. Of all of them that enlisted that day with my grandfather, I believe, only he lived to see the end of the war.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

The Salvation Army and other volunteers were present in both these wars – in the trenches -offering support and the love of God to the soldiers.

In World War One, the Canadian Salvation Army was part of a ministry that included over recreational huts, rest homes, hostels, and more than 1200 volunteers. The Salvation Army sent chaplains to the frontlines and helped operate these huts, canteens, rest facilities, and more.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

At the conclusion of the Second World War some allies turned foes and some foes turned friends in the Cold War that ensued and again Canadians headed overseas – this time to Korea – to offer our lives on behalf of our allies and to lay down our lives for our friends. 

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

As this Cold War progressed, Canadians continued to stand beside our allies but we also donned blue barrettes for the first time, intentionally standing between warring factions, some with legitimate grievances, protecting and reconciling populations, and still offering our lives for our friends. 

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

2000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross so that we all may live.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

Now, through the real horrors of the wars of the twentieth century and earlier a great thing happened: Canada’s primary foes during 1814, 1914, and 1944 are now some of our closest friends and allies. Our soldiers laid down their lives for us, their friends. And they laid down their lives so that we could be reconciled to our brothers and sisters. Canada is reconciled to her old foes and united with them more than ever because of the sacrifice of our friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, and our veterans. Thanks be to God for this reconciliation. (May this same reconciliation occur with our current foes.)

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

And, of course, it was through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we all may experience this same reconciliation with God. John 15:13 records a part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. He is giving them instructions before he voluntarily marches off to His death for them and for us.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:12-15: [Jesus says,] …My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus laid down his life for us and he now asks the same of us. Do we love our God and do we love our neighbour: Are we experiencing that reconciliation for which He died? Are we a friend of Jesus? And, if we claim we are, are we willing to lay down our life for our neighbour, for our God, and for our friends like Jesus commands? Jesus after commanding this reminds us that indeed, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

Remember that Jesus died so that we may live. Remember that Jesus died so that we may live lives reconciled with God and with our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, the family of God. Remember to that though this Salvation War is won, the battles still rage and these seemingly never-ending battles are not merely with flesh and blood but are in reality truly waged against other powers and principalities (Ephesians 16:11-13).

John 14:23-24, Jesus says, “… If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me”. And “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Even more than the sacrifice of many of our servicemen and women whom we remember with respect and gratitude, Jesus, the Son of God, died so that we can live reconciled lives. Jesus laid down his life for us, his friends, and not unlike the sacrifices of many service people who died that we may be reconciled with our old foes, Jesus died so that we can be reconciled with God.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

So today I urge us not to let Jesus’ death to have been in vain in our own lives. If there is anything between our neighbour and ourselves, if there is anything standing in the way of our reconciliation, today let us lay it aside. If there is anything that is preventing us from fully living out reconciliation with God, today let us cast it aside. If there is any impediment to our relationship with God, let us today confess it to Him, and experience the abundant joy that only comes with reconciliation.

Jesus died so that we may be reconciled with God and each other. May we never forget His sacrifice.

Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends.

The Lamb at Vimmy Ridge (John 1:29; Revelation 12:7-12a) and the Sunset on the Beach at Dieppe (Hebrews 9:28).

 Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 20 August 2023 by Major Michael Ramsay (Padre. Royal Canadian Legion)

 

The Lamb at Vimmy Ridge

 

 

 

On May 17^th of this year, I walked the short walk from a parking lot to the memorial atop a small ridge, overlooking a small town in France. There were sheep everywhere. I did not see a shepherd. One little lamb had escaped a fence and become separated from the flock; she desperately ran back and forth along the ridge looking, searching, hoping for someway to break through the fence before it is too late; hoping to join her flock, looking for someway to be reunited; looking for safety she bleated, she cried as she looked out terrified over the ridge. This ridge on which she was lost and bleating has a name. It is Vimmy Ridge.

As I stood atop Vimmy Ridge by the memorial to our Canadian soldiers, the symbolism of this bleating lamb running back and forth, looking for someway through the fence was not lost on me.

April 9^th to April 12^th, 1917, a brutal battle was fought as our Canadian soldiers desperately looked for a way to break through the fences and trenches on this very same ridge. Many had tried before. Many had died before. But here they were now, trying to get over those fences and through those trenches, to climb the ridge and bring safety to so many.

After many battles fought by many of our allies. The Canadian Corps were able to secure the high ground and most of the ridge on April 9^th 1917. On April 10^th they secured the village and the crest of the ridge and the final objective, a fortified knoll fell to the Canadian troops on April 12^th. The battle was the first occasion when the four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. Our soldiers climbed through many barbed wire fences, many deep trenches, many hazards and perils and accomplished what had not been accomplished before but at a great cost: By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadian Corps had sustained 10 602 casualties; 7004 soldiers had been wounded, some in the most horrific of fashion, some to never recover, and 3 598 people breathed their last breath on that ridge overlooking that town on that day in April in1917.

It was quite something to stand there in May of 2023 and see that one little lamb bleating as she ran trying to get through the fences more than 100 years after 10 602 Canadians lay bleeding, 3 598 never to be reunited with their families the way the little lamb I watched was finally able to be reunited with hers.

This all reminds me, of course, of Jesus, who himself is the lamb of God. John the Baptist, John 1:29, “…saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And relating to the sacrifice of battle, Revelation 12:7-12a:

7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now has come the salvation and the power

    and the kingdom of our God,

    and the authority of his Messiah.

For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,

    who accuses them before our God day and night,

    has been hurled down.

11 They triumphed over him

    by the blood of the Lamb

    and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much

    as to shrink from death.

12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens

    and you who dwell in them!

 

Jesus is the lamb of God. As all those soldiers died on that simple ridge more than a century ago, Jesus died on the cross more than 2 millennia ago. The WWI soldiers offered their lives there and many of them died. Ultimately they were victorious. The foe was defeated and as a result of this battle 100 plus years ago and others that followed over the next 100 days, they celebrated victory and experienced a much sought after peace.

The angels in the heavens fought against the devil and his forces. Jesus, The Lamb of God has triumphed in the Ultimate battle. He has defeated not mere mortals but even death itself; therefore we can all rejoice!

 

Sunset on the Beach at Dieppe (Hebrews 9:28)

May 15^th and May 16^th of this year, I walked along the beaches of Dieppe. I looked out across a beautiful beach covered with large smooth rocks that gave way under your feet drawing you back, in towards the sea, and I looked up steep, steep cliffs to see even ancient fortifications, in the evening beautifully lit up by an amazing sunset.

August 19^th, 1944, almost 80 years ago, over 6000 infantry, primarily Canadian infantry arrived at this same beach. The same rocks that gave way under my feet gave way under their feet. Only they were wearing heavy packs and carrying their weapons and supplies; just trying to survive. Balance must have been near impossible. They would have been so heavy, soaking wet as the sea wanted to claim them for her own. As they looked up at the sheer cliffs, I am sure it was not the beauty of the moment that captured their imagination but rather the sheer horror of having to find a way to scale those cliffs, while sopping wet, heavy with gear, and being shot at. The fortifications seemed insurmountable to me months ago; the fortifications for many of the Canadians on the beach then were impenetrable. 3623 Canadians died on this small strip of beach. As I stood there watching the sunset over the water, this fact was not lost on me. 3623 Canadians after visiting this beach never saw another sunset again.

I walked silently along the beach. I looked again at the stones, the cliffs, the fortress, the waves, and the sea and imagined and remembered those who had gone here before me. Then I noticed a monument, a monument, in a garden, in a place now called Canada Square, placed there lovingly and in remembrance by the citizens of the town of Dieppe. It reads:

 

On the 19th of August 1942

on the beaches of Dieppe

our Canadian cousins

marked with their blood

the road to our final liberation

foretelling thus their victorious return

on September 1, 1944.

 

This memorial cast my thoughts to Jesus and His sacrifice -yes- and also the hope that comes with it. This memorial did not talk about the futility of war – we all know about that and the closer to having had experienced a war we are personally the more acutely aware of that we are. This monument does not glorify or justify war pretending that is somehow a noble cause or something we should exalt in. This plaque at this monument notes that those who died, “marked with their blood the road to our final liberation, foretelling thus their victorious return”. These words are so poignant for me that I will probably remind you of them on Remembrance Day and again on Resurrection Day, Easter. These words sum up the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross on Good Friday, and the hope of Easter and beyond. Hebrews 9:28 records, “so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” When Jesus died on the Cross on Good Friday it not only foretold His resurrection on Easter; it also foretells His victorious return at the Eschaton, at the end of time, when Heaven comes down to earth and there is new heavens and a new earth. 

This is our hope. Just as the people of Dieppe remembered the sacrifices of the Canadians on their beaches at a future time when they were able to celebrate their victorious return at their final liberation; so too do we even now remember Jesus, each and every week as we gather here for, as the plaque in Dieppe, interpreted, paraphrased, adapted; reads, Jesus “marked with [His] blood the road to our final liberation, foretelling thus [His] victorious return”. At which time there will be no more suffering and no more death in the Kingdom to Come.