World War I Memorial Unveiled in Ottawa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_royal_tour_of_Canada#/media/File:RoyalVisitNationalWarMemorial.jpg

Prime Minister McKenzie King had a vision for Ottawa.  He wanted it to look more like another capital city, Washington DC, with its grand boulevards, beautiful parks, massive monuments and Beaux Arts architecture.  In 1937, he hired Jacques Greber to redesign the city.  A gaping hole had formed in Ottawa's downtown after the Russell fires (1928) and the demolition of the old City Hall (1931).  Greber thought the war monument would be the perfect object to fill the hole.  The post office and Knox Church were also torn down, making even more room for the massive monument.

In 1925, a competition was held to determine who would design the monument.  The following year, Englishman Vernon March's entry "The Great Response of Canada" was selected as the winner. Vernon started sculpting the figures but passed away in 1930.  His six brothers and one sister completed his sculpture, displaying it in Hyde Park for six months in 1933.  A contract was awarded to Cape and Company to build the granite pedestal for the sculpture, completed in 1938.  Jacques Greber was hired to oversee the design of the walkways and terraces surrounding the sculpture.

The First World War Memorial was officially unveiled by King George VI on May 21, 1939, part of the Royal Visit to drum up support for the brewing war in Europe.  One hundred thousand spectators gathered to hear King George's speech.

"The memorial speaks to her world of Canada's heart...It has been well named 'The Response'.  One sees at a glance the answer made by Canada when the world's peace was broken and freedom threatened in the years of the Great War.  It depicts the zeal with which this country entered the conflict."

Twenty-two uniformed servicemen and women from 11 branches of the Canadian Armed Forces courtesy http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canada/national.

King George VI's Declaration of War Speech

The film The King's Speech made it famous.  It was short and sweet and yet it took its deliverer a lot of inner fortitude to deliver it.  Firstly, he was about to declare war on Germany, probably the biggest decision of his reign.  Secondly, the King had a stutter.  The King's speech therapist had jotted notations in the margin, reminding the King of tips to prevent him from making a mispronunciation. The weight of the world was on his shoulders.  Yet, he delivered the speech with precision and with purpose.  Here is the speech that launched the Second World War:

"In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send to every household of my peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one of you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.  

For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war.

Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies; but it has been in vain.  

We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called, with our allies, to meet the challenge of a principle which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world.

It is a principle which permits a state, in the selfish pursuit of power, to disregard its treaties and its solemn pledges, which sanctions the use of force against the sovereignty and independence of other states.

Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive document might is right, and if this principle were established through the world, the freedom of our own country and of the whole British Commonwealth of nations would be in danger.

But far more than this, the peoples of the world would be kept in bondage of fear, and all hopes of settled peace and of security, of justice and liberty, among nations, would be ended.

That is the ultimate issue that confronts us.  For the sake of all we ourselves hold dear, of the world order and peace, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge.

It is to this high purpose that I now call my people at home, and my peoples across the seas, who will make our cause their own.  I ask them to stand calm and firm and united in this time of trial.  

The task will be hard.  There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield, but we can only do the right as we see the right and reverently commit ourselves to God.  If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whatever service or sacrifice it may demand, then with God's help, we shall prevail."

For more information, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2012/02/mouthful-of-marbles-vs-earful-of.html.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8223897/The-Kings-Speech-the-real-story.html

King George VI & Churchill Plan to Land at Normandy Beach on D-Day

"The war had immeasurably strengthened the link between the King and his people." (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheHouseofWindsor/GeorgeVI.aspx)

King George VI wrote a letter to Sir Winston Churchill on May 31, 1944.  Its contents were shocking:  the prime minister, pushing 70 years old, and the king, pushing 50, both intended on landing on the Normandy beach on D-Day.  How was their plan foiled?

Sir Winston Churchill, a veteran of the Boer War in Africa, was no stranger to combat.  King George VI, a veteran of the First World War, was also familiar with battle.  The king had remained at Buckingham Palace, which was bombed nine times during the first few years of World War II.  He had toured London's East End, sifting through the rubble after the Blitz.

Even so, when Churchill proposed that he would land on the beaches at Normandy with the British troops on D-Day, King George was shocked.  "I don't think I need to emphasize what it would mean if...a chance bomb, torpedo or mine should remove you from the scene," he explained in his letter to Churchill.

King George thought that he would deter Churchill by suggesting that he join him in the D-Day landing.  Churchill, "the Lion", was all for it, however.  Admiral Ramsay intervened and explained to both leaders that they were needed at home to make crucial decisions if D-Day did not go as planned. "I would ask you to reconsider your plan," wrote King George to Churchill.

In the end, neither the king nor the prime minister participated in the D-Day landings.  Sir Winston Churchill made his famous V for Victory sign from 10 Downing Street.  King George delivered a D-Day speech from Buckingham Palace to build moral among the British population.  "The war had immeasurably strengthened the link between the King and his people."

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