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Introduction
The Canadian Army Brigade would remain in this area until 1970 and as with any community there were marriages, birth and unfortunately deaths. The Department of National Defence Policy regarding final disposition and the extent of public funding up until 1970 stated "Members of the Canadian Forces remains would not be returned home even at personal expense". For dependants and DND civilians the policy was those returned home would be done so at the expense of the next of kin. Families were actually advised that they could not repatriate family members that died so family members in this area were buried in the
In 1970 the policy changed which allowed family members to be returned home at public expense to the nearest port of entry at the request of the next of kin. Military personnel to be returned at public expense to the site requested by the next of kin. This policy change greatly reduced the number of burials in
With the exception of Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries, which are looked after by the War Graves Commission only two cemeteries in
Research
Location and identification of the Post War cemeteries and the confirmation of those buried there became the next task. Since many of the burial sites of Canadians in
Once the lists were compiled it was necessary to visit these locations and determine the current status of the graves. Local city officials were contacted and cemetery records checked for confirmation. During these visits it was discovered that because of the passing of time a lot of graves had been lost. It may be well worth mentioning at this time that without exception city administration, mayors and the local population were delighted that finally something was being done to preserve the memory of those Canadians that were buried in their local cemeteries. Even today many years later they all have fond memories of the Canadian that were stationed in these areas and lived in their towns and villages.
The Project
Mr. JA (Gus) Turner, Director of Realty and Engineering Policy, leads the project for the preservation of the Post-War Military and Family Members Graves in
In this cemetery, the
Brigade Headquarters was located in
Field Ambulance was located in
Engineers were located in
|
Artillery Regiment (Hemer Area) |
Infantry Batallion (Hemer Area) |
Infantry Batallion (Soest Area) |
Support Units (Soest Area) |
Infa ntry Batallion (Werl Area) |
Fort Beausejour Armoured Regiment ( Iserlohn ) |
|
|
1953 - 55 |
2 RCHA |
2 PPCLI |
2 RCR |
2 R22eR |
||
|
1955 - 57 |
4 RCHA |
1 PPCLI |
1 RCR |
1 R22eR |
||
|
1957 - 59 |
1 RCHA |
2 QOR of C |
2 Cdn Gds |
4 OFP RCOC |
3 RCR |
RCD |
|
1959 - 62 |
1 Cdn Gds |
RCEME |
||||
|
1960 - 64 |
3 RCHA |
1 QOR of C |
1 Fld Amb |
|||
|
1962 - 65 |
1 RCR |
1 Tp Co RCASC |
2 RHC |
FGH |
||
|
1964 - 67 |
2 RCHA |
1 PPCLI |
4 Brgd Recce Sqn |
|||
|
1965 |
2 RCR |
2 R22eR |
LdSH |
|||
|
1966 |
2 PPCLI |
|||||
|
1967 |
1 RCHA |
1 R22eR |
* The support units listed at
The Canadian sections in this cemetery were completely renovated with each grave stone being replaced and a memorial cairn placed in each section in the spring of 2003. The dedication ceremony took place at 1400 hours on Friday 22 August as the Zone Europe Royal Canadian Legion Colour Party led the participants to the Canadian section. Participating in the ceremony was Ms. Fran MacBride and her project team from
The ceremony officially got underway as the master of ceremonies Wally Enders introduced the special guests who gave very moving speeches. Father Ron Bourque, Canadian Forces Chaplain General and Padre Roland Bourque, Canadian Forces Padre conducted the religious portion of the ceremony. Deputy Minister Karen Ellis and the Mayor of Werl Herr Michael Grossmann did the unveiling of the cairn.
Following the dedication in this section the Colour Party led the procession to the other section where the padres conducted a similar service and again the unveiling took place. On completion of the ceremony a reception was held at the Maifeld Hotel in Werl where lunch was served and we had the opportunity to chat with a number of people from Werl and in particular some of our Canadian friends.Note: The project team have a wonderful webpage posted that if you have a family member, relative or friend buried in any of the post war cemeteries in
In the spring of this year at a Zone meeting Branch 004 requested to have a Remembrance Service in Werl marking the 35th year since the Canadians departed the area. The request was enthusiastically endorsed by the Zone Commander who commented that it had occurred to him that although we do many ceremonies each year all over Europe we sometimes neglect paying our respects to comrades who are buried in our own back yard with the exception of our local cemeteries in the Lahr/Baden area and Cheloy in France which receive annual recognition in the form of a remembrance service during the period of Remembrance Day each year in November.
The Zone Commander sanctioned the event as a Zone Ceremony and requested Branch 004 to do the organizing. Comrade Geatan Bienvenue offered to organize the event on behalf of Branch 004. Geatan contacted the mayors of Soest, Werl,
On arrival in Werl Geatan met with the (Town Mayor) Bürgermister Michael Grossmann and Frau Melanie Schmidt who were extremely helpful with the arrangements for the ceremony. Accommodations were arranged at the Hotel Melstergarden which was formerly a barrack block for the Belgium Army. The remainder of the camp had been demolished and the now hotel was completely renovated very tastefully. The staff and manager provided us with excellent service and were very friendly and helpful. The dinner following the ceremony was arranged at the Stadthalle in Werl.
On Saturday 13 August members arrived at the hotel and by the end of the day all European Branches were represented evident of our Legions commitment of remembrance. That evening we all went to a Gasthof in the nearby town of
Sunday morning at 1030 hours all gathered at the
The Mayor of Werl, Michael Grossmann was called upon to address the assembly.
"As the representative of the town of
The restoration of the individual gravestones and the placement to the new monument in this cemetery has been carried out with a considerable amount of compassion of the persons directly involved with the project not to mention as well at considerable financial expensed which show how big an obligation the Canadian Government and the Military feel towards those of their deceased citizens who were not able to return home after having fulfilled their duty abroad. All those who found their final place of rest here, no matter whether they are men, women or child were witness to a time where the threat to Germany's security were alive and the safety of the German people could only be guaranteed by the Allied Troops, namely the Canadian Troops in our region.
The soldiers who are buried here died while being responsible for
I am personally pleased that another commemorative ceremony has been initiated by Canadian Citizens that is being held here today. Representatives from the
Following the speech a wreath laying ceremony took place with the Mayors representing there citizens laid a wreath. The zone Commander laid a wreath on behalf of Zone Europe. God Save the Queen was plaid that officially ended the ceremony. Comrade Bienvenue thanked every one present for their participation and invited everyone to join with us for dinner at the Stadthalle in Werl. He also asked participants which included a fair number of local citizens to remain until the colours were marched off followed by the Legion members. The Zone Sgt-at-Arms marched off the colours.
We managed to spend a good half hour in the cemetery where a candle arrangement was put on individual graves and at the monument before the rain started. Then we all left the cemetery for the Stadthalle where an excellent meal had been arranged. The mayor of Werl and a surprising number of local residents including many Canadians that live in the area joined us.
A number of us were stationed with the Brigade over the years and had a great time reminiscing over those years. It was noted in the Rathaus that several plaques we left by Brigade units when they left but there was no sign of a Canadian flag. The British Army moved into the area after the Canadians left and there was a British flag displayed. To remedy this situation the Zone Commander was honoured to present the mayor with a Canadian flag. The mayor thanked us and said the flag would be prominently displayed in a place of honour over the Canadian plaques in the town hall. Geatan also presented the mayor with our new Zone Europe Pin.
Following the dinner the Zone Commander assisted by the Deputy Zone Commander Girard Lemay and the Past President of Branch 003 Val Laucke was again honoured to carry out the initiating ceremony for two of our members from this area Comrade Bob Porteous, a former member of the RCASC and Comrade Jean Louis Tougas, a former member of R22eR.
The next couple of hours we spent time getting to know our Canadian neighbours from the north. In particular I chatted with Mr. Raymond Lortie a Korean Veteran, the husband of Maria who read the prayer in German for us, who is a delightful person, in good spirit and has a great sense of humour. At age 78 years young is in good physical condition and enjoys good healthy. He definitely had a few interesting stories to tell. Met a young man Michael La Libertie who in his mid thirties lived most of his life in Werl was born a Canadian and to this day retains his Canadian Citizenship. He has been for the past number of years trying to contact his Canadian father or members of his father's family. We told him to compile what information he has and we will do our best for him through the Legion connection. There were many other people I met it's just unfortunate I can't remember all their names. They may be living in a foreign country but there is no way of disguising the fact they are Canadians ... crazy bunch like the rest of us. It was also interesting to note that a lot the Canadians living in the area belong to an International Club and on 11 November gather in the
I was talking to Frau Irena Barty, a local from Werl about memorials that the Canadian units left in the area when they moved south in 1970. She was so kind and volunteered to escort a group of us to the memorial in front of the Rathaus left by R22eR. One in the beautiful city park left by the Black Watch and one at the local outdoor swimming pool left by the Engineers. The city pool had a fountain that had dried up or at least they couldn't get it to work properly so the Engineers came to the rescue and refurbished the fountain that exists today.
That evening we all went to the Gasthaus Brauhaus Zweibel in Soest for supper and spent a great evening entertained by our waitress who spoke perfect English and seemed to enjoy our company even though the place was packed upstairs and down. All good things must come to an end. It was a great weekend. The Zone Commander thanked Comrade Geatan Bienvenue for the excellent job he did in organizing and conducting the ceremony. Comrade Geatan Bienvenue gave credit to many people from the Branch that helped behind the scene such as Comrade Sean De Roe the Branch Treasurer who was unable to be here today but personally made the candle arrangements that contributed to the overall success of the ceremony.
