A fantastic, yet heartbreaking, pilgrimage for a local veteran

Local Veteran, and Whitecourt Legion Service Officer, Kyle Scott spent half of July travelling throughout France, Belgium and the Netherlands on a Pilgrimage of Remembrance tour through the Royal Canadian Legion. Every two years, the legion sets up a group for the purpose of bringing history back home and sharing it with others. He applied to represent the Alberta Northwest Territory Command and was honoured to be chosen.

A historian accompanied the group and brought them to specific areas where combat occurred and to burial grounds that are, for the most part, unmarked. One of the stops on tour was to Abbey Ardenne, which is where the North Nova Scotia Highlanders were executed. “It’s well-documented and a popular spot to visit. Well, within eyesight of that, we went to a place where the Royal Winnipeg Rifles had 45 men executed and just a kilometre up the road further there was another 25 men executed. All the while you can still see the squire of the Abbey Ardenne in the distance, yet I didn’t know about these stories. I was so disgusted that, for one, I didn’t know and that, two, there is no memorial there at all. I broke down,” explained Scott.

As a strong voice for veterans, Scott has worked hard to bring the plight of veterans to center stage and to keep the stories of their sacrifice alive. “These soldiers joined to do something so patriotic and honourable and were given the most dishonourable death that a soldier could experience. I was so angry kneeling on this ground. We had a ceremony and left a wreath in the forest, and I just balled.”

 Another highly emotional stop was in the village of Authie, France. The North Nova Scotia Islanders were decimated and with hardly anyone left the wounded made a last stand to allow those who weren’t wounded to escape. “I believe it was around 140 of them that were killed in a field about the size of an acre. These guys just lined themselves up against the fence and tried to hold back the Germans, so their buddies could run for their lives. And they were all killed. There’s no sign out in the field. It’s just at the end of a dirt road.”

Scott plants to lobby both the Canadian and France governments to purchase land from the farmers just big enough to put a post and a sign. “All I need is like 10 square feet.” He is also more determined than ever to spread the stories that he learned. “It really highlighted to me that we are not doing enough back here. When you can go to every French, Belgium or Dutch village and they know who the Canadians are and what they did. They lost their freedom, but we’ve never lost ours here in Canada. Our citizens don’t comprehend how good we have it here and it’s getting to the point here that, by and large, I believe our society has forgotten about these men and their sacrifices.”

He hopes to get into the schools and speak to students as he feels that the curriculum is lacking when it comes to Canadian war history. “Some say it is too scary for them to learn about, but they still need to understand why we have to make sure that we don’t end up in the same position in the future,” he explained. “We can’t force this on people as that’s a sure-fire way of pushing them away, but this was so massive and so tragic, and it deserves more respect and attention.”

Scott left a photo of his great uncle at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme and left his great grandfathers’ image at Vimy along with a wreath for the legion. Within his group were two siblings, each with a unique story to share. “They were children of two Dieppe raid veterans. One was wounded, captured and kept prisoner for two and a half years but managed to survive and rejoined the army after the war. The second helped carry wounded soldiers down the shale covered beach to wait for landing craft, and when the last craft left without him, he swam after it until it picked him up!”

 They also met an 80-year-old French farmer who was just five years old when the Canadian regiment passed through his field. “He came out and shook all our hands and was crying. It was the Fusiliers Mont-Royal that liberated his village. There’s a memorial to the regiment on the wall of his farm. He takes care of it every day, and every time a tour group stops, he greets them.”

Many in that corner of the world haven’t forgotten and continue to honour those who freed their homeland. Scott said that he wants to bring that type of remembrance to Canada. “We can’t do this just one week a year. It must happen all year round. This trip hit home for me that we must do better.” On August 8, roughly two weeks after returning from the tour, Scott received a call that he had been nominated for the Sovereigns Medal for Volunteers. Having dedicated much of his life, since retiring from duty in 2008, to helping veterans and devoting countless hours in the name of volunteerism, Scott said he was honoured.

“My favourite part of it is that my mom has been awarded it. It’s very special. I grew up in a family of volunteers.” He said that getting to meet the Lt Governor of Alberta and speaking to her about veterans’ issues was amazing. “It’s a peer recognition award, and that makes it all the more special,” he smiled. He hopes that he can encourage more people to get out and volunteer because so many local organizations need help. As for the legion, members do not have to be veterans; anyone can become a member.

If you are a teacher, parent or facilitator that would like to invite Scott to speak to your group, then please call the Royal Canadian Legion or contact Kyle Scott on Facebook. “I would love to share their stories. We must remember them.”