by LCol Vic Johnson (Ret’d)
The idea for a Korean War Memorial in Canada was born after the unveiling of the monument to the Canadian military buried in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery near Busan, Korea in April 2001.
Col B.H.”Chip” Bowness MSM,CD, CME was Military Attache in Korea at that time and it was considered unfortunate that the Canadian public at large would never see this monument . The idea of an "Echo Copy" to be placed in Ottawa was suggested and action was started to carry out the plan. Chip Bowness became the Chairman of the Canadian Korean War Commemoration Committee - a task he continued with after his retirement from the CME.
The project, including the original memorial in Busan, was funded in totality by donations from Korean Veterans, private citizens, industry, private organizations, Royal Canadian Legion, and numerous other agencies.
The 26-28 September ceremony consisted of two parts. The first part was by the veterans and for the veterans and opened with a Meet and Greet on 26 September. Over 2000 veterans and guests were registered - so great a response that the locale had to be changed from The Lord Elgin Hotel to the National Arts Centre. On 27 September, numerous events were organized including; visits to the War Museum and a tour of Rideau Hall and culminating with a dinner for 2000 at the Congress Centre. Chip Bowness, as master of ceremonies, conducted himself in true Military Engineer tradition.
A recorded address from The Governor-General and the keynote address by the Honourable Dr. Rey D. Pagtakhan, Minister of Veterans Affairs were well received.
The second part of the activities was sponsored by The Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Sheila Copps, P.C. M.P. and attended by the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Jean Chretien, P.C., Q.C.,M.P. Here, again, the number of veterans and guests required a change in venue and the Memorial had to be placed in a temporary location to accommodate the crowd. The Korean Children's Choir from the Suk-po Elementary School provided a Korean flavour to the ceremony on Sunday 28 September. Their rendition of the Korean National Anthem, traditional song of welcome, and Hymn of Canada - Hymn of Korea was roundly applauded.
The veterans were seated with their comrades from the same corps/unit to facilitate the march-past after the unveiling. There were 24 Royal Canadian Engineer veterans registered for the march-past but they were joined by others and about 30 proudly stepped out in a fashion that would have made the drill instructors at RCSME 50 years ago proud. Members of all three Canadian Field Squadrons that served in Korea; 57th, 23 rd, and 59th, were present. Old friends renewed acquaintances and passed on information of mutual comrades who were unable to attend.
The turn-out of so many veterans demonstrated the esprit-de-corps of all who served in this cause of freedom in foreign land over 50 years ago.Finally, the service of almost 30,000 Canadian military has been recognized and we have a focal point to keep that memory alive.
For more information on the Canadian Military Enginer participation in the Korean Conflict, see Volume III The History of the Canadian Military Engineers .
The RCE Korean War fatalities are honoured in a special Korean War Book of Remembrance, a Military Engineers’ Association of Canada project that was lead by Ralph deCoste. This book is held by the Canadian Military Engineer Museum and is displayed in the halls of the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering in Camp Gagetown.
In the June 1993 43rd edition of UBIQUE you will find an article by Major Ralph deCoste (Ret’d) on the RCE fatalities who are listed below:
Buried in UN Memorial Cemetery, Pusan, Republic of Korea
- Sapper H.G Davis, died 7 Nov 1951
- Sapper G. Ducasse, died 11 Aug 1952
- Sapper A. Fortier, died 23 Feb 1953
- Sapper F . Morris, died 12 June 1952
- Sapper B. F. Shaw, died 16 Nov 1952
- Sapper T. P. Sutton, died 24 July 1952
- Sapper J.O. Wright, died 28 Aug 1951
Buried British Commonwealth Cemetery,Yokahama Japan
- Sapper L.A. Watson, died 23 Nov 1951
- Sapper H,B, Hievert , died 22 Mar 1952
Buried in Canada
- Sapper William Muir, died 5 Oct 1950, buried Field of Honour Cemetery, Burnaby BC
- Sapper Alexander Mc Neil, died 21 May 1954, buried Roman Catholic Cemetery, Bridgeport NS
Another interesting reference about the "Sappers” in the Korean War is one by William Johnston in the October 1990 issue of Canadian Defence Quarterly, entitled "No Sapper's Paradise: The Royal Canadian Engineers in Korea, 1951-1953." This article gives an account of the activities of all three squadrons and has an extensive bibliography.