Royal Canadian Legion

Werl Ceremony 2003

Introduction

Canada has played an integral role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) since its inception on 04 April 1949 . Canadian Service Members have served on accompanied NATO postings in Europe since 1951. In the early years 1951-1953, 27 Canadian Infantry Brigade (27 CIB) was stationed in the Hannover area of Germany, as part of the Allied Occupational Force in the British Army of the Rhine Sector (BAOR). 1953-1955, 1 CIBG replaced 27 Brigade and moved to Westphalia, where they were garrisoned in nine Forts in the areas of Hemer, Iserlohn, Werl and Soest.

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 also buried in the Werl Park Cemetery.

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 Europe but did not eliminate them completely. What most Canadians were unaware of regarding gravesites in Europe was that the gravesites are not "in perpetuity" they are leased. With children it's on the average between 5 and 20 years while adults usually run between 20 and 25 years after which the grave site must be repurchased for another term or the grave is lost.

With the exception of Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries, which are looked after by the War Graves Commission only two cemeteries in Europe had any kind of leasing agreements the one at Werl and Zweibrücken in Germany. Prior to the closure of Canadian Forces Europe in 1994 the National Defence Headquarters was requested to advise on further management of these cemeteries. This request combined with increased inquiries of concerned family members in Canada through Veterans Affairs, the Royal Canadian Legion and the Department of National Defence finally resulted in the Canadian Government, because of their participation in NATO, to make it a Federal Responsibility to care for the last resting place of Service Members including their family members that died and are laid to rest in Europe.

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 Europe had not been previously documented Chaplains lists of burials became crucial to identify the deceased by name and date of death.

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 Europe. The Project Manager is Ms. Fran MacBride, Senior Realty Advisor who is assisted by Ms. Tracy Braun, Realty Advisor, Mr. Trevor Heavens and Mr. Wally Enders of Havelock Consultants and numerous other departmental representatives who add their expertise whenever required. The team, who I can assure you put their heart and soul into this project, agreed to the support with funding a stabilisation program, which would lease the gravesites of each Canadian for 50 years. Included in the lease agreement was an option to be extended for another 50 years with perpetual care, which in essence will protect the graves for another 100 years. Gravestones were replaced since the former markers were made of poor quality and weather beaten to the point that names were no longer legible. The Royal Canadian Legion in Europe organized a cleaning party of school children from Geilenkirchen to clean the headstones in the mid 90's but made little overall improvement. A Memorial Cairn was placed in each cemetery with each name engraved on it of those who's grave has been lost.

Werl, Germany 22 Aug 2003

The town of Werl is about central of the nine forts that housed the Canadian Infantry Brigade from 1953 until 1970 when the Army would move south from Westphalia to collocate with the Air Force in the Black Forest area of Lahr and Baden to form Canadian Forces Europe.

In this cemetery, the Werl Park Cemetery there is 448 Canadian burials that took place in two sections 124 military and 324 family members. It is the largest concentration of post war graves in Europe. The Brigade units stationed in this area in those years is as follows:

Brigade Headquarters was located in Fort Henry in the Soest area.

Field Ambulance was located in Fort Anne in the Werl area.

Engineers were located in Fort Victoria in the Werl Area.

The support units listed at Fort Chambly were the units stationed there and did not rotate as a unit or in any certain year.

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 Canada and special guests Herr Michael Grossmann, Mayor of Werl, LGen Rick Hillier, Chief of the Land Staff (Commander of the Army), CWO Greg Lacroix, Land Force Command Chief Warrant Officer. The delightful Ms. Karen Ellis, Assistant Deputy Minister Infrastructure & Environment Department of National Defence Canada and Mr. Robert Vanderloo, Embassy Minister. Also in attendance were several family members of the deceased that are buried in the cemetery. There was a large number of the local population including a surprising number of former Canadians Service members that settled in this area of Germany.

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.