The Field of Crosses, a touching Remembrance Day tribute, has returned to Kelowna’s City Park for its fifth year. One family, says they’re moved by the memorial.
“It’s absolutely fabulous that they do this,” said Debbie Bryan. “We’ve been coming every year since they started, and it’s a lot of work and a lot of dedication, and I can tell you I very much appreciate it.”
Bryan’s grandfather, Cpl. Albert Garner fought and died in the Second World War. He was just 34 years old when he was killed. Bryan says she and her brother Leonard come to the Field of Crosses every year, to carry on a tradition that was started by their father.
“My father, when he was still with us, every year or multiple times a year, used to go to his father’s gravesite, and he would take us kids and he would keep up his gravesite, at the Kelowna cemetery,” explained Bryan.
“I’m here to show respect for the dedication of my grandfather.”
Like a scene from John McCrae’s poem in Flanders Fields, row upon row, 227 crosses are displayed with each individual’s name, their rank, the unit they were in, and their date of death.
“When they come to visit starting today, they will be able to have a more personal interaction or impression of events and people, not just the names on a stone,” said Okanagan Military Museum historian, Keith Boehmer.
“Hopefully people make the connection of where they are in their lives, and try to empathize with the mothers, the wives, the children of these soldiers and what they might have been experiencing.”
As conflicts continue to take place around the world, the hope is that the Field of Crosses will help educate younger generations about the horrors that war brings.
“The youth definitely is our future, and it’s important for them to remember, just so the things like World War I, World War II, those types of conflicts, don’t occur again,” said Lieutenant Colonel, Trevor Waaga.
“(The Field of Crosses) represents all the soldiers, aviators and sailors who gave the supreme sacrifice, particularly from the Kelowna area.”
The public is encouraged to visit the site during City Park hours, from Nov. 2 to Nov. 12, to walk among the crosses in reflection and remembrance. The staging area will be well lit after dark to provide safety and illumination of the crosses for nighttime visits.
On Nov. 10 at 4:30 near the Cenotaph in City Park, residents are also invited to take in a candlelight ceremony ahead of Remembrance Day.
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