Western Development Museums across the province - including in Yorkton - are taking the time to commemorate an important piece of Canadian history - the one hundredth Anniversary of the First World War.
On August 4, 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany. As a part of the British Empire, Canada too was at war. The implications were profound both here at home and around the world. Some 42,000 Saskatchewan people served in the military. Five thousand were killed or died of injuries. On the home front farmers grew food, women and children knit socks, rolled bandages, sent parcels to soldiers, and raised money for the Red Cross.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the war's outbreak, the WDM looks back on the lives of three Saskatchewan men who took part.
At the Moose Jaw WDM we feature William Hurst Bothwell's uniform tunic. Bothwell trained with the militia in Moose Jaw before the war. He signed on with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in September 1914. Wounded in 1915, he re-enlisted with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps after his recovery. Bothwell survived the conflict and returned to Saskatchewan.
The North Battleford WDM features the uniform tunic of Ernest Elmer Auckland. Born in Ontario in 1888, he had come west in 1913. As a conscript, he reported in early 1918 to 1st Depot Battalion Saskatchewan in Regina. Auckland too survived the war and returned to farm in the Speers area.
The first ever large-scale gas attack was unleashed against troops on the Western Front by the German offensive near Ypres, Belgium in April 1915. The Saskatoon WDM exhibit features a hood-like gas mask worn by William Hurst Bothwell while serving with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps.
Frank H. King, an Anglican minister who served several Saskatchewan communities before moving to Australia, signed up as a chaplain. The portable communion set he used both in Saskatchewan and overseas is shown at the Yorkton WDM.
"We hope visitors will pause at our showcase exhibits to see the tangible reminders of the war and reflect upon the stories they have to tell," comments Joan Champ, WDM CEO.
The exhibits will remain on display until mid-November. At a future date, they will tour as one travelling exhibit to each WDM location.
Regular museum admission applies.
