Timmins pauses today, Nov. 11, to honour the men and women who served Canada courageously to protect our rights and privileges.
Today at 11 a.m. at the Hollinger Park cenotaph the annual observation to honour our war dead will be held.
Timmins contributed troops from the First World War, Second World War, Korea, Canada’s Peace Keeping Missions in Sinai and Cyprus and the more recent post-2001 conflicts in Afghanistan.
Walking through downtown Timmins, the District School Board Ontario Northeast storefront on the corner of Third Avenue and Cedar St. South had a memorial in their storefront dedicated to Sgt. Martin Goudreault (1974-2010) a Timmins High student in the early 1990s and a reservist with the Algonquin Regiment.
Goudreault decided on a military career after graduating from Timmins High. He was a member of the 1 Combat Engineer Regiment in Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.
Approximately 6:30 a.m. Kandahar time on June 6, 2010 Sgt. Goudreault was killed after an improvised explosive device detonated while on foot patrol, 15 kilometres southwest to Kandahar in the Panjwayi District.
Goudreault was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan when he died. He became the 147th member of the Canadian military to be killed in Afghanistan, a mission that began in 2002.
“Recognized early in his career for his leadership, Sgt. Goudreault was the model soldier, someone the soldiers in his section could look up to and emulate,” said Brigadier-General Jon Vance, the commander of Task Force Kandahar.
“His subordinates and superiors alike will remember him as a tireless leader who was passionate about his work.”
The Timmins Cemetery on Pine St. South contains the graves of many of the city’s men and women who died serving Canada. A walk through the section consists of simple markers on the ground for the selfless soldiers whose only glory was serving Canada and making there country better and safer.
Soldiers like Private Wilfred Empey (1897-1965). Private Empey would have been 20 years old in 1917 when he served Canada. Or Private John Lieman who died during WW2 on December 18, 1943.
And Private John Tasker (1877-1945). There is Private Arthur Douglas (1898-1944). There are many more and it is worth walking through Timmins Cemetery and honouring these Timmins sons and daughters whose simple and graceful markers can be found there.
A little further down from the military portion of Timmins Cemetery is the family tombstone of Captain Wilf DeMarco, who died on his last mission — to bomb Hitler’s mountain hideout in southern Germany known as the Eagle’s Nest near Berchtesgaden near the Austria border. DeMarco’s mission was to destroy the Eagle’s Nest so Hitler could not retreat to the mountain top resort and fight a last bloody battle prior to the end of the war.
The Lancaster bomber was shot down by a German missile on April 25, 1945 just weeks before the end of the war. DeMarco is believed to be the last Canadian pilot killed in the Second World War.
Captain DeMarco was able to maneuver his shattered plane into Austria where it crashed near Adnet, Austria. Three members of his crew survived thanks to DeMarco’s handling of the plane in its final moments. DeMarco and three others died.
Villagers arrived on the scene and saved portions of the airplane which were used in a memorial to Captain DeMarco and his crew on April 25, 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the event.
A ceremony was also held at the Timmins Museum in honour of Captain Wilf DeMarco. Family members were identified and brought to Timmins from Niagara Falls, Ontario where his nephew is now residing.
One hundred years ago on November 11, 1916, the Canadian Expeditionary Force brought to a conclusion the first phase of a battle known as Battle of the Ancre Heights which concluded with the troops capturing the Regina Trench. The battle began October 1 and ended 42 days later on November 11.
But there was not much of a respite for Canadian Troops for no sooner had that phase of the Battle of the Ancre Heights concluded than the second phase began on November 13, 2016 and concluded on November 18 with the capture of Beaumont Hamel.
Like 1915, the year 1916 was a hectic one for the Canadian forces in France. They were involved in 15 battles.
Next year on November 11, 2017, Canada will be honouring those who died at Vimy Ridge, a battle enshrined as the battle where Canada emerged as a nation. Vimy 1917-2017 commemorations will be taking place in Canada and in France April 9-12 2017 and during Veteran’s Week November 5-11.
