Almost half of Canadians don’t know what the country contributed to WWI, survey finds

One hundred years ago, on Monday to be precise, the world-defining battles of the First World War began, thrusting men and women – entire countries – into turmoil and conflict. Canada will be among those remembering Aug. 4, 1914, the day it joined the Great War, and the nation's role in the struggle and those who died fighting.

But there is another date that should be noted in Canada's ledger: Feb. 18, 2010.

It was on that day that Canada's last surviving veteran passed away, severing the already tenuous link to memories and first-hand accounts of that era.

Canada's last living World War I soldier was John Babcock, a young Ontario farmer who enlisted when he was too young to serve. He was sent, instead, to a training camp and the war ended before he could reach the front lines.

In his later life he moved to America, became a naturalized U.S. citizen and was forced by circumstance to give up his Canadian identity.

But he loved Canada, he wished he could have fought for the British cause and before he died at the age of 108, the Canadian government had secured him renewed citizenship and commemorated his role in the country's history.

Upon Babcock's death, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called him the "last living link" to a war that marked the country's coming of age.

"The passing of Mr. Babcock marks the end of an era. His family mourns the passing of a great man. Canada mourns the passing of the generation that asserted our independence on the world stage and established our international reputation as an unwavering champion of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Harper said back in 2010.

Indeed, the First World War was a formative time for Canada's identity; some 420,000 Canadian soldiers went to battle after Britain declared war on Germany. Canadians from coast to coast fought at Passchendaele, Somme and Vimy Ridge. Some 20,000 Canadians, like Babcock, joined to fight before their 18th birthday, defying or attempting to defy the legal age of requirement to join a cause they felt was just.

Sixty-thousand Canadians were killed doing the same. Another 173,000 were wounded in battle. That was the passion present in Canada 100 years ago, among young Canadians willing to go overseas and fight.

[ Related: When Canada went to war: The story behind our involvement in WWI ]

But as the world prepares to mark the Centenary of the Great War, those battles have been largely forgotten by those living here today. Despite recent efforts to bring our role into the public eye, nearly half of Canada is unfamiliar with the sacrifices made by our men and women.

A new survey released this week found that 40 per cent of Canadians have no idea what role the country played in the Great War. And another eight per cent didn’t even realize we played a role at all.

The survey was conducted by Ancestry.ca, which further detailed that Manitoba, at 67 per cent, had the highest rate of people unaware of Canada’s role in the First World War.

“In many ways, the First World War represents the moment when Canada first made its mark on the world stage and really came of age as a nation," said spokesperson Lesley Anderson. "I think the 100^th anniversary of the start of the War will give Canadians a tremendous opportunity to learn about the impact the War had on this country, as well as what role their own ancestors may have had in it, regardless of their country of origin."

Britain declared war on Germany after the country had move against Russia and France and refused demands to move its troops out of Belgium. As part of the British Empire, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and other outposts joined the fight.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with Britain, and the other British dominions, in this quarrel," Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden declared.

Between then and the end of the war in 1918, Canada fought in key battles along the western front of the conflict, including the hard-won seizure of Vimy Ridge during a key British offensive. That moment, more than any other, is cited as the birth of Canada’s nationhood.

[ Related: European powers started the Great War a century ago - underestimating the tragedies ahead ]

One hundred years later, unearthed stories about the struggles Canadian soldiers went through and the adversities they overcame act like time capsules. There are no more Babcocks to share their tales, just the keepsakes they left behind and journals they wrote to shed light on the horrors they faced. Those stories have been forgotten for so long, their sudden resurgence brings with them a connection to something larger than today.

"I can still feel the hairs of my neck standing out and kind of this chill that I get,” Michael Hilton recently told CBC Calgary after pulling a box of his great-grandfather's memorabilia out of the basement. “It's kind of like a kindred spirit I have with my great-grandfather, who I never met."

The box of personal treasures, and many others, have since become part of a grand display in the Military Museums of Calgary, one of countless exhibitions curated across the country in the lead-up to the anniversary of the Great War.

The federal government has done everything it can to shed light on Canada's role in the war, from compiling unending resources through Veterans Affairs, holding special ceremonies and investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on commemorations, tributes and events.

The coverage will culminate on Monday with a gathering at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, to commemorate the beginning of the World Wars.

Canada’s role in the Great War is also the focus of "Walking the Western Front" – an impressive multimedia feature from Toronto Star reporter Katie Daubs and photographer Richard Lautens, who chronicled their months-long walk along the regions of Europe where Canadian soldiers fought and died.

"We are war correspondents, 100 years late to the war. There are no witnesses to interview or photograph, no bullets to worry about. The bomb craters are now lily-pad-covered ponds, the trenches are buried under fields of crops," Daubs writes at the beginning of the expansive feature. The rest, every step the pair takes across grass-covered former battlegrounds and through small, well-manicured cemeteries, should not be missed.

With the Centenary of the Great War approaching and nearly behind us, it may be the last moment that we as a nation can reminisce, can remember. It could be our last great chance to contemplate the role we played in a war that shaped the world, and the role that war played in shaping the country we have become.

There are no more John Babcocks to remind us. There are no more great anniversaries to pull these moments back to the surface. One hundred years ago, Canadians answered the call when the world was in peril. We fought, and died, and forged an identity for ourselves through our bravery.

So many of us have forgotten this already. So many more could forget in the years ahead.

But John Babcock never forgot. Among his last public comments before dying was this: "I think if I had a chance, I would have gone to France, taken my chances like the rest of them did. A lot of good men got killed."

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