Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.11.2018, Side 10

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10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • November 15 2018
When does something come
to be? That is a profound
philosophical question. In this
case, was it growing up in a household,
a copy of Minningarrit Íslenzkra
Hermanna, a visit to the Menin Gate, or an
advertisement in Lögberg-Heimskringla,
the English-language Icelandic paper in
the fall of 2014?
Before answering such profound
questions, I’d like to take you back
half a century with a shout-out for Duff
Roblin and Maitland Steinkopf. In the
1960s, I was Duff’s executive assistant
and without my knowledge or consent
he gave me the challenge of managing
Maitland Steinkopf as the first Director
of the Manitoba Centennial Corporation,
something cabinet couldn’t do but a
young 27-year-old was supposed to. It
was a huge challenge but Manitoba had
by far the best centennial project in all of
Canada with the museum, concert hall,
and planetarium – thanks to Maitland.
Contrast this with New Brunswick where
they built an administration building, in
contrast to the purpose of the centennial
grant. I would also like to give a shout-
out to the Eaton family: John Craig and
Sally Eaton, Fredrik Stefan Eaton and
Helga Stephenson. Not only did they
donate money to the exhibit but they
also took time to fly out for this opening.
Many of you may not know that in an
article in Canada’s History (published in
Winnipeg) I wrote on the top ten Canadian
businessmen of all time. Sir John Craig
Eaton, grandfather (afi) of John and Fred
was one of my choices because he made
Eaton’s a national company when he
built the Winnipeg store.
For those of you who are not
Icelandic, the Memorial Tribute to North
American Soldiers of Icelandic Origin
and Descent was published in 1923. It
was compiled by the Jon Sigurdsson
Chapter of the IODE, here in Winnipeg,
and printed by Viking Press. It contained
pictures and biographies of the over
1,000 Canadians of Icelandic origin that
served. Three of my uncles are in the
biographical section, including my Uncle
Jon, the first Canadian-born member
of our family, who made the supreme
sacrifice at Passchendaele. His body was
never discovered. His name is carved
on the wall of the Menin Gate in Ypres,
Belgium, along with the 6,000 others
whose bodies were not found.
In 1965, former Prime Minister John
Diefenbaker, while cleaning out files in
his office, came across a picture taken
overseas of the two of them together
(John and Jon) and he mailed it to us.
They met in the 196th Battalion, Western
Universities. Fourteen years later. Mr.
Diefenbaker wrote again and told us about
the Menin Gate where 364 days a year
there is a memorial service at 8:00 p.m.
My wife, Sally, my older son, Jon, and
his son, Erik, visited the Menin Gate and
were incredibly moved by the ceremony.
A few months later, I was startled
to see an advertisement in Lögberg-
Heimskringla asking for pictures, letters,
and artifacts from World War I for an
exhibit at the National Museum of Iceland
in Reykjavík. I was startled for two
reasons: (1) it seemed such a coincidence
with my visit to Ypres and (2) why was
someone in Iceland interested in this
topic because attitudes towards the war
in Iceland had been negative? I entered
into correspondence with Kristín María
Hreinsdóttir, who placed the ad, and who
I very much wish could have been at this
wonderful event.
The year passed quickly and the
exhibit opened on June 29, 2015. I made
a point of being there. I was impressed. I
was particularly struck by the photograph
on your invitation. I had never seen it
before the exhibit in Reykjavík. The
two figures on the left are quite famous,
at least among Icelandic Canadians. On
the far left is Konnie Johannesson, who
was a fighter pilot but better known as
a member of the Winnipeg Falcons, the
first team to win Olympic Gold in hockey.
Next to him is Frank Fredrickson, the
captain of the Falcons and later a Stanley
Cup winner with the Victoria Cougars.
In the middle is my uncle Bill, or “Villi.”
What I learned is that Konnie and Frank,
like Villi, were musicians (as well as
hockey players – but Villi was no hockey
player) who used to play in the silent
movie theatres accompanying the drama
on the silver screen with rousing music at
the old Walker Theatre in Winnipeg.
On returning to Canada I was
so enthused about the exhibit, I felt
something must be done. I also thought
we needed to translate Minningarrit
Íslenzkra Hermanna and we needed
more research on Icelandic Canadian
participation in the war.
The first person I went to was Arni
Thorsteinson. Arni is an entrepreneur
who gets things done. He convinced
the Manitoba Museum of the merits
of the exhibit. Then a few of us agreed
to put up some money and we paid for
the translation of the memorial book.
In addition, we engaged a University
of Winnipeg student to do research,
specifically on nominal rolls, but also
items in the Winnipeg Free Press or
wherever she could find them.
What did we learn?
In his remarks, Roland Sawatzky,
curator of the museum, spoke of the role
of a specific ethnic group and World War
I. It is indeed that. Remember, before and
during the war, the Icelandic Canadians
were not allowed to participate in the
mainstream hockey leagues in Winnipeg
because of their ethnicity. And while
there were those in the community who
were either neutral or negative towards
the war, such as Stephan G. Stephansson
from Markerville, the leadership in
the community favoured participation
because of the importance of fitting in to
their new country.
Sam Hughes, the driving force behind
Canada’s early war efforts, recognized
there were a few ethnic groups which
he could tap for much needed soldiers.
While most of the battalions – for
example, the 27th, City of Winnipeg –
were geographically based, Hughes also
went after “safe” ethnic groups, which
included 29 Canadian Scottish units,
five Canadian Irish, five American, one
North American Indian/First Nation, and
2 Nordic: one, the 97th, predominantly
Norwegian, and the other, the 223rd,
predominantly Icelandic.
The 223rd were called the
Scandinavian Battalion and while there
were Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians,
the largest group were Icelanders –
some born in Iceland, a few in the U.S.,
but the largest group in Canada. An
interesting aspect of the 223rd was that
the largest group, after the Icelanders,
was a Bohemian detachment from the
Bohemian Gymnastics Association in
Chicago.
After the 223rd, the largest group
of Icelanders was in the 108th, based in
Selkirk. However, our research found
Icelanders far and wide in Manitoba and
particularly in Winnipeg – and as far
away as the Nova Scotia Highlanders.
Once these units were shipped
overseas, they were placed in Reserve
units. Both the 223rd and the 197th
were incorporated directly into the 11th
Reserve Battalion, which provided
forces for combat units primarily from
Winnipeg and Manitoba units. These
units fought in the Last 100 Days, a
period that created more casualties than
any other – more than the Somme, more
than Vimy Ridge, more than Mount
Sorrel. They would capture Mons and at
the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th
month, an armistice would be signed.
We have just received the translation
of the war dead and an examination of
their original battalion confirms the 223rd
and the 108th as the largest source of front
line soldiers. The obituaries show the
war dead in Winnipeg-based battalions
– the 79th Cameron Highlanders, the
144th Winnipeg Rifles, and the 184th.
But also widely distributed – the 16th
Light Horse in Saskatchewan, the 1st
Division Ammunition Column of the
Canadian Field Artillery, and Christine
Frederickson, the only nurse to be killed.
In the memorial tribute published in
1923, the original authors assumed the
tribute would be translated into English
and now, 95 years later, it has been – and
a searchable database is being posted
online for people who want to know
about their loved ones and the sacrifices
they made so that we in Canada could
live in peace and tranquility.
Earlier, I noted that not all Icelandic
Canadians favoured the war. There
were some like Borga, the mother in
Laura Goodman Salverson’s The Viking
Heart, who was angered when her son
Thor enlisted. But when she saw them
marching, turning the corner of Portage
and Main (special permission required?),
“They might have been an army of
ancient Norsemen, so dear they seemed.
… Ahead of these men for whom she
now felt such possessive love, she saw,
not a white silken banner with its raven
mascot, but that tri-coloured badge of
a great empire – the Flag of Britain – a
holy thing, created so by her immortal
heroes and sustained in that holiness by
her loyal children.”
Let us never forget their sacrifice
– not just of the dead but also of the
living. As a result of this research, I have
come to the conclusion that the dead
may have been the lucky ones because
it would be impossible to imagine what
life was like in the trenches of World
War I. To paraphrase Siegfried Sassoon,
“They lived in hell, they called it
Passchendaele.” And then they returned
to live a “normal” life, which it would
have been next to impossible to do. Let
us never forget!
In conclusion I would like to thank
the Manitoba Museum for making this
exhibit possible and takk fyrir, Þórður,
for this reception.
This address by Joe Martin was
delivered at the official opening of
Vikings of the First World War: Icelandic
Canadians in Service at the Manitoba
Museum on Thursday, October 25,
2018. This exhibit commemorates the
100th anniversary of the end of the
First World War and features medals,
photographs, letters, and various other
artifacts from two Winnipeg battalions
– the 197th Vikings of Canada and
the 223rd Canadian Scandinavians.
Complementing these artifacts is a video
installation curated by Kristín María
Hreinsdóttir in collaboration with
the National Museum of Iceland and
the University of Iceland. The exhibit
continues at the Manitoba Museum,
190 Rupert Avenue, Winnipeg, until
March 3, 2019.
VIKINGS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR:
how the commemorative exhibit came to be
Joe Martin
Toronto, ON
PHOTO: BILL ACHESON / MANITOBA MUSEUM
Joe Martin speaking at the opening of Vikings of the First World War