Sask. remembrance service marks 80 years since start of Second World War

A service of remembrance was held at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Wednesday, with this year marking the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War.

Premier Scott Moe acknowledged the collective debt owed to those who have served and continued to serve today, especially to those who gave their lives in defence of our freedom.

“That was so many years ago. Many of our heroes are gone now,” said Moe.

The premier was struck by how young those who served were when the war broke out. Moe said most in their late teens and early 20s today are attending university, working at their first full-time job or travelling the world.

“Eighty years ago at that age, you would have been preparing for war. Then you would be fighting that war, brothers and sisters in arms. Fighting a war that was at times brutal, horrifying, unprecedented in its scope and scale,” said Moe.

The wreath laid by Premier Scott Moe in front of the Saskatchewan War Memorial on Nov. 6, 2019. (Andrew Shepherd/980 CJME)

Moe told the story of Battery Sgt. Maj. Gordie Bannerman, who was raised on a farm near Aneroid and was 18 when the war started.

While fighting in Italy near the town of Montemaggiore his unit came under a tremendous amount of shellfire, wounding another Saskatchewan farm boy, Scott Coyle from Pleasantdale.

Bannerman tried to comfort Coyle, who was hit by shrapnel, telling him to “just lay still.” Coyle put his arms around Bannerman’s neck and responded, “I know you, Gordie.”

Coyle was put on a truck that was headed to an aid station but didn’t survive. He died at the age of 23.

Coyle is one of approximately 5,000 Saskatchewan citizens who never came home from the Second World War.

“We think of the families that were never raised, the careers that never came to be, the joys in life that just weren’t experienced. The sacrifice made on our behalf was immense and it stretches across generations. Every life lost made our life possible,” said Moe.

After the service, Moe laid a wreath at the Saskatchewan War Memorial just west of the Legislative Building, where the names of those 5,000 people are forever etched.

You can find more on the story of Gordon Bannerman here.