HMCS Brunswicker pushes for Saint John naval memorial

A small patch of grass on Saint John’s Harbour Passage may soon be dedicated to the city’s rich naval history.

“We want to use this as an opportunity to establish a memorial on Harbour Passage,” said HMCS Brunswicker Commanding Officer Marc Brown.

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“As the cruise ship visitors go by, people running, citizens running on Harbour Passage, they’ll see that, hey Saint John has a rich naval history, and (the memorial) is a way to recognize and appreciate that.”

The HMCS Brunswicker naval memorial committee recently appeared before common council with their pitch for the project, which will be entirely funded by private donors. All they need from the city is the land and the approval to use it.

“We will not be seeking any funds from the city,” said former Senate Speaker and honourary naval captain Noël Kinsella.

“We’ve been able to identify a number of private sector supporters and we’ve undertaken to set up an endowment fund for the cost of maintenance.”

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The group says the feel that the city’s contributions to naval history, stretching back to the arrival of Samuel de Champlain, through the First and Second World Wars, is often overlooked.

“We think that it’s very important,” Brown said of Saint John’s place in naval history, adding that nine of the 12 patrol frigates in use by the Canadian Navy today were built in the port city.

“It’s very exciting that the story may be now told and this memorial will help identify why Saint John does recognize and appreciate the navy and all those men and women who served so gallantly and those many who made the supreme sacrifice,” Kinsella said.

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Habour Passage is already home to the Afghanistan memorial and a gunners memorial, which will be dedicated this summer. Former Cultural Affairs Officer for the city Bernard Cormier says it’s possible more military monuments will begin to dot Harbour Passage in coming years.

“Habour Passage has become a unique location for memorials,” Cormier said, who was brought on board by the group to help steer the proposal through city hall.

“There’s the gunners memorial as well and there’s an Afghanistan memorial and I know there will probably be efforts for other memorials in the future to commemorate some of our own New Brunswickers and Saint Johners who served in these conflicts.”

Cormier added that the new site, the first naval memorial in the province, will give the HMCS a permanent space to host commemorations and mark the anniversaries of important naval moments.

“When it comes time to recognize and commemorate these special events in the part the HMCS Brunswicker has always had to go to various churches or other sites,” he said.

“Now they will have a designated location, close to the Brunswicker where these commemorations can take place, and wreaths can be laid, and speeches can be given and so on and it will be something that is permanent that the public will be able to see on a regular basis.”

If all goes well the group hopes to break ground on May 5, the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic, in which Saint John played a crucial part, and begin construction by the end of the summer.