Berwick Legion shares veterans’ service, sacrifice in public banner project
The evidence of community ties through time were evident as Andrew Stewart, a linesman with the Town of Berwick’s Berwick Electric Commission, raised the first of dozens of commemorative banners for his great-grandfather, William C. Stewart.
The elder Stewart served in the First World War with the 5th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force and then returned home to become the first president of Royal Canadian Legion Ortona 069 Berwick.
The Stewart family was one of dozens to support the Berwick Legion’s first banner project this year, providing photos and service details for the colourful memorials now hanging from the town hall along Cottage Street to the cenotaph on Veterans Drive, following the route of the Legion’s annual Remembrance Day parade.
Legion project lead Michèle Champion said in the October 14 unveiling ceremony, “every detail was done with the veterans, families and community in mind.
“I am deeply grateful to the veterans and families who shared their photos and trusted us to display these stories. Our veterans deserve to be honoured in a way that connects their stories to the community.”
Thirty-nine banners were developed from the Spring call for participation to the October launch, with the Berwick Legion gathering advice and support along the way from the Middleton Legion, which has a similar program; the Town of Berwick, Veterans Affairs Canada and the business partners involved in the actual banner design and fabrication. A companion project developed a small booklet of banner photographs and lengthier background information on each veteran. As people follow the hanging banners’ route, they can read more about the “courage, sacrifice and stories of why we’re here,” Champion said.
“Each face will spark a conversation, curiosity and pride – that is the true gift of our program: remembrance that is alive, personal and present.”
Kings West MLA Chris Palmer, Town of Berwick Deputy Mayor Adam Lutz, Royal Canadian Legion Nova Scotia Command past president Don McCumber and Associate Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada Christine McDowell all brought greetings to the event.
“We often talk of military service with a wide lens,” McDowell said. “The millions. But these are individuals – and we can ask questions: what was their trade? Where did they go? What became of them? This project means a lot to us at Veterans Affairs – but even more to the families of those who are being honoured.”
Family members and friends stand with just some of the dozens of banners making up the October 14 launch of Royal Canadian Legion Ortona 069 Branch Berwick’s first veterans’ commemorative street-sign project.Siblings Don and Susan show off the banner for their father, Joe Clarke, a sergeant with the West Nova Scotia Regiment who served overseas and was wounded in Belgium during the Second World War.Royal Canadian Legion Nova Scotia Command past president Don McCumber, left, Branch 069 Berwick banner project lead Michèle Champion and branch sergeant-at-arms Peter Martin watch as families return their veterans’ banners to the stack following an unveiling ceremony, ready for hanging on Berwick’s streets through the remembrance season.Eric Sturk and Margaret Zwicker share stories and compare banners, commemorating the service of loved ones.Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot Officer Charles Woodworth – nicknamed “Bunny” – was killed in action December 6, 1941, aged 20; and is buried in Huntingdonshire, United Kingdom. He enlisted right after high school in Berwick, and trained in Medicine Hat before heading overseas. Bunny was a “great favourite with the student body” at Berwick school, according to The Register article on his death, “recognized as a good sportsman, a splendid type of young man of whom his native town may indeed be justly be proud.”The great-grandchildren of First World War veteran William C. Stewart – from left, Ian (with great-great-grandchild Callum), Sara and Andrew – stand below the first of new commemorative banners recognizing the service of Berwick-area soldiers on display along the town’s Remembrance Day parade route.Berwick Electric Commission linesman Andrew Stewart raised the first of dozens of commemorative banners for his great-grandfather, William C. Stewart, October 14, as the Royal Canadian Legion Ortona 069 Branch Berwick unveiled its newest community project.The first of several dozen commemorative banners in Royal Canadian Legion Ortona 069 Branch Berwick’s new project was hung October 14 for William C. Stewart, a First World War veteran and the Legion’s first president. Pictured are, across the front, from left, Stewart’s great-grandchildren Ian (with great-great-grandchild Callum), Sara and Andrew Stuart; Lucy Critch and Margaret Zwicker; and, across the back, from left, Kings West MLA Chris Palmer, Berwick Legion president Sue Goddard, Berwick Deupty Mayor Adam Lutz, Royal Canadian Legion Nova Scotia Command past president Don McCumber, Rollie Zwicker and Peter Martin.
