LETTER: Honouring service and sacrifices at Southampton ...

Dear Editor,

Article content

As the Council of the Town of Saugeen Shores wrestles with the renewal of the current, rapidly deteriorating, Southampton Cenotaph, there are some significant differences of opinion, specifically about the meaning of the cross. Honouring the service and memory of those – and their families – who sacrificed themselves for freedom and democracy in two World Wars – among other conflicts – remains at the forefront of consideration for all concerned.

Like so many families in this area – indeed around the whole world – mine has a story of honouring the memory of loved ones who served. In our case, two stones for two brothers: one who was killed in action, the other who returned home. Flight Officer James Mills Johnston died in a training accident in England in the early days of World War One. His older brother, the Rev. John Wesley Johnston, was a Padre with the Canadian Expeditionary Force who had just arrived in England in 1917, destined for Passchendaele, and was asked to conduct a graveside Service … for his own brother, Mills.

Article content

Like JWJ, Mills was a Christian, and his grave in Cranwell, England is marked with a stone cross.

The cross being an ancient symbol of Christianity, evoking the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it takes many forms in the various traditions that comprise Christianity, including the Roman Catholic crucifix, the ‘budded’ cross of the Orthodox Church, and the ‘empty cross’ of Protestantism (which emphasizes the resurrection).

With his poem “In Flanders Fields”, Guelph native and WW1 Colonel John McCrae popularized the imagery of ‘between the crosses row on row’ in homage to the sacrifice of soldiers buried in France, many of whose graves were marked with wooden or stone crosses.

However, Canadian soldiers swear allegiance to King and Country, not to Jesus, and not all soldiers were – nor are – Christian. Indeed, the graves of many other soldiers, nurses, chaplains and others who served as veterans, have various grave markers. And people who were liberated by Canadian soldiers – including Jews in Europe and Muslims in Afghanistan – also want to pay homage to that service and memory. What does a cross ‘say’ to them, as well as to people of other traditions, including Indigenous Spirituality? As well as to those for whom a cross has traumatic connotations? And mindful that many of the enemy soldiers were also Christians.

Article content

When JWJ returned from Passchendaele to serve as a Minister at Keady in Grey County, one of his daughters recalls that he was a ‘broken man’, scarred by what was then minimized as ‘shell shock’, but what we now know to be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). JWJ continued to serve the Church and his community until his death in 1939, just as World War Two was breaking out. When the Rev. John Wesley Johnston was buried in the Cemetery in Tara, his grave was marked with a gravestone without a cross. In recent years, Royal Canadian Legion Branch #383 in Tara graciously added a medallion – featuring a Canadian flag – to the grave stone of JWJ; on behalf of a grateful Country.

I want to respectfully suggest that it is harsh for some to dismiss retiring the illuminated cross as ‘politically correct’. Rather, the insistence on its perpetuation is historically inaccurate. The familiar design has served well for over sixty years, though it is increasingly insensitive to the diverse population that the Cenotaph is intended to ‘speak to’, as part of honouring the memory of those who served and died for Canada, freedom and democracy.

Article content

Now more than sixty years since the cairn and illuminated cross that comprise the current Cenotaph in Southampton was established – now both significantly deteriorating – hopefully six years of bold vision, expert consultation, and broad and generous support can eventually proceed with a more visionary homage to the memory of the men and women of Southampton – and their families – who made the ultimate sacrifice: framing the compelling 135’ Canadian flag pole, rather than an illuminated cross that is historically inaccurate, and blocks the view of the Lake. The span of the illuminated cross inscribed “Lest We Forget” and some of the cairn stones could be reverently retired to Legion Branch #155, with other stones provided to veterans, families and donors, also in homage. It is time to move forward, together!

Respectfully submitted, (Rev.) John Lougheed, Retired Minister & Chaplain, great-great nephew of Mills, and great- grandson of JWJ

Article content