The Memorial Park and Cenotaph have been there as long as most of us can remember. We take it for granted that we can gather there on Nov. 11 each year to remember and honour those men and women who defended our country.
When Great Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914 Canada, as a part of the British Empire, was involved in the conflict. Captain F. B. Smith started drilling the men of Company F, a reserve company, in the council chambers at Drayton town hall that same month. The company was later transferred to London, Ontario.
Recruiting meetings were held and many young men from Drayton, Peel and Maryborough enlisted over the next couple of years. They were trained and soon sent to fight in the conflict in France.
Local political leaders helped form Patriotic Leagues to find ways and means to support the war efforts. From the beginning, the Women’s Institute members sewed shirts and pajamas and knit socks by the hundreds to be sent overseas for the service men.
From August 1914 to November 1918 the local Newspaper, the Advocate reported the names of those who had enlisted in the military service, when they departed for overseas, and of those who were wounded or killed in action. There were accounts of presentations made to departing soldiers, memorial services held in local churches for those killed in action, and welcoming receptions for those returning home.
In June 1918 an honour roll for Drayton, Peel, Moorefield and Maryborough was printed in the Advocate. There were 200 names on the roll, including four nursing sisters. The list was to be updated from week to week and the editor asked readers to furnish missing names and advise of errors in spelling or otherwise.
Finally at 5am Monday morning, Nov. 11, 1918 the News reached Drayton that the armistice between the Allies and Germany was confirmed. At 11am that day a huge crowd gathered at the town hall to hear thankful messages from the reeve and five local clergy, and to sing songs of thanksgiving lead by a union choir. That night a huge bonfire was lit on the village main square on which the effigy of Kaiser “Bill” was burned.
In a December 1918 issue of the paper, the editor suggested that a suitable monument, bearing the names of the Drayton, Peel and Maryborough servicemen who were casualties of the war, be erected in Victoria Cemetery, at the town hall or the library. It would be nine years before a memorial became a reality.
A News item reported that on Nov. 11, 1919 the school children marched to the village square and sang the national anthem. The November issues of the Advocate from 1920 to 1926 reported that John Lunz, local merchant, displayed the poem In Flanders Fields in his store window during the month and on Nov. 11, 1926 John Lunz’s ad admonished “Lest We Forget,” and reported Nov. 18, 1926 that the United Church had held an evening Armistice Day service.
In January 1927 the formation of a committee to plan a homecoming reunion was reported. Strangely the Advocate reported no fundraising, land acquisition or planning of a memorial, either as a News item about the reunion committee or in the reported minutes of the Women’s Institute, until in the Aug. 4, 1927 issue. In it there was a lengthy account of the four-day homecoming reunion events, which included the dedication and unveiling of the cenotaph.
Here we learned the Drayton Women’s Institute designed and had built the cenotaph and gates at Memorial Park on the corner of Wood and Wellington Streets. The park land was donated to the Women’s Institute by local business man Mr. O. B. Henry. At a ceremony and memorial service on July 25, 1927 the Memorial Park was dedicated and the Cenotaph unveiled by His Honour W.D Ross, Lieutentant Governor Ontario.
Nevertheless, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Women’s Institute for making sure there is a memorial park and cenotaph where we continue to remember and honour all who have served.
submitted by Jean Campbell
