Honouring fallen heroes

Times Reporter

 

The hamlet of Gleichen is rich with history and residents are always looking for a way to bring a little bit of the past back into the future. 

In the Gleichen cemetery, in a cordoned off section, is the Field of Honour. This is where the World War 1 and World War 2 veterans rest. 

A Mountie also lays at rest in the field. There are approximately 20 headstones which need bases and the cross needs to be rebuilt. 

“We want to identify places like this where maybe they’re in disarray and maybe the headstones are broken or disappeared or whatever and make sure there’s a lasting memorial to them,” said MP Kevin Sorenson. 

Doris Lindman is well known when it comes to knowing and trying to restore little bits of Gleichen’s history. 

“One of the reasons this place is so important as far as the war history, WW1 and WW2, is downtown where you now find the Masonic Hall is where they used to have an artillery battery. It was called Battery Number 22, it was the smallest battery to go overseas,” said Lindman. 

Gleichen was once a big centre for recruitment, especially during WW2. Last December the hamlet received a plaque from WW2 for battery competitions. 

“You know when you travel around some of these small communities have the most fascinating history and people like Doris help keep it alive for us today. They say that we learn from our past and well if we don’t hear those stories, if we don’t record our history, if we don’t look after the vets in the cemetery pretty soon we forget the past and then what do we learn?,” said Sorenson. 

“I’ve been on the federal government’s case for three years, you can’t have this,” said Lindman. She was appalled to see the final resting place of veterans being left in such a state of disrepair. 

The upgrades and revisions to the Field of Honour are expected to be completed by October 31, in time for Remembrance Day.  Veterans affairs will be covering the costs incurred in fixing up the plots.