My perspective - First hand memories

Details

Published on Friday, May 8, 2015

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

The Neepawa Banner

Today, May 8, we mark 70 years since the formal surrender of Germany's armed forces and the end of World War II in Europe. After almost six years of war, German leader Adolf Hitler had committed suicide on April 30, 1945 and the Allies had pushed the Germans out of Holland, which had been declared “liberated” on May 5. 

While the war in Europe had been won, the war in the Pacific raged on through the summer. The Japanese announced their intent to surrender on August 15, 1945 and the formal surrender of Japan tool place on Sept 2, in Tokyo Bay. The deployment of two atomic bombs in early August had changed the nature of the conflict.

To mark the anniversary, we talked to those who remember the dying days of World War II in Europe. We talked to those who served in the armed forces, both at home and abroad. We talked to those who remembered the war from a child's perspective. We talked to those with family serving. We talked to them about where they were when they heard the news and how they reacted.

One thing is clear, the passage of time hasn’t diminished the memories of this important time.

One of the things that sticks out to me is the all-encompassing nature of the war. Even at home, on a farm in rural Manitoba without power, families were focused on the war. Everyone listened to the radio each night to hear updates from overseas. They saved the precious power in their radio's batteries to catch that one broadcast. They waited a month for letters to reach their loved ones.

At school, children knitted afghan squares to be combined into blankets and sent overseas for Canadian soldiers. Most families had someone involved in the war effort. All communities were touched by it. Despite our world being smaller and more connected than ever before, I can't think of one single event that has united us the same way in a shared experience.

On May 8, 1945, when the war dead were tallied, over 43,000 Canadians died serving in the army, air force, navy and merchant navy. The Canadian wounded numbered at 54,000. Across the world, about 61 million people had died, both military and civilian.

How do you even imagine 43,000 casualties, let alone 61 million? How do you understand the impact? It's something you can only understand at the personal level– The local boy who was killed in the waning days of the war, his mother receiving the news as she celebrated VE Day– and then extrapolate the heartbreak 61 million times. This is why the personal stories are so important.

The events of World War II helped shape the world and our young country. Men and women, Canadians, from a country less than 100 years old played a crucial role on the beaches of Normandy and in the streets of Holland. We participated in the Italian Campaign and in the Pacific. In total, about 9 per cent of Canada’s prewar population served in uniform during the war. It set us on our course as defenders of democracy and protectors of the weak.

It's vitally important we remember the human stories of World War II and each year, we lose those who carry with them these memories. We lose those who know first hand what it's like to face life and death each day, those who saw the horrors of war and what man is capable of, both good and bad. It's an era to which we don't want to return and the best way to be reminded of that is through first hand accounts. 

Over the past few weeks, it was truly a privilege to talk to those who had a front row seat to the events that shaped our country and world, who played a role in freeing those living as prisoners in their own countries and who came home to built communities and lives in Canada.