Ceremony marks legacy of ‘field of crosses’ founder
CALGARY- A solemn ceremony was held at sunrise on Thursday morning, in honour of a Calgary man whose vision and determination helped establish the field of crosses along Memorial Drive. George Bittman was a navy veteran and former head of the Poppy Fund, before dying...
Field of Crosses Memorial Project – Wire Source
The McCann Family Foundation, the Calgary Poppy Fund and the Field of Crosses Memorial Project's volunteer board of directors wishes to welcome Calgarians to the annual Field of Crosses Memorial Project. "A yearly tribute to Southern Alberta's fallen soldiers" In...
Sunrise ceremonies to honour Albertans killed in war
The crosses are back on Memorial Drive. There are thousands of them, each white marker a stark reminder of the many southern Alberta soldiers to die in combat. Murray McCann, whose McCann Family Foundation funds the project to erect crosses along Memorial Drive in...
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- The Field of Crosses Memorial Project begins its fourteenth year
- Calgary memorial features more than 3.5K crosses to remember southern Alberta’s fallen soldiers
- Field of Crosses tribute to return to Calgary along Memorial Drive
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Today, April 10th, we celebrate National Siblings Day. This year we commemorate 140 siblings in the Field of Crosses, this includes 2 sets of a brother and sister, and 4 sets of 3 brothers.
On this National Siblings Day, we would like to take the opportunity to share the stories of Private David T Stark and Private Joseph G Stark, brothers who are honoured each November in the Field of Crosses.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐
Age 33 โ Pte. 10th Bn
Date of Death: 26/04/1917
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ก ๐
Age 30 โ Pte. 10th Bn
Date of Death 28/04/1917
They were indeed true brothers and were inseparable from early childhood. Both were born in New South Wales, Australia, the sons of James and Jessie Stark (nรฉe Hamilton). David Taylor Stark was born in Sydney on March 29, 1886, and Joseph Gillespie Stark was born in Enfield on September 1, 1888. The family later moved to Scotland, and both brothers served 4 and 5 years, respectively, with the Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Regiment).
The family moved again, settling in Calgary, Alberta. Both Davidโs and Josephโs occupations were as Railway Brakemen with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
Both boys enlisted in Calgary with the 10th Battalion Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment), Joseph on January 21, 1915 (service number A/34354 or 434354), and David on June 25, 1915 (service number 435470).
Sadly, after 22 months in the trenches, the brothers were killed in action 2 days apart.
Private David T Stark died on April 26, 1917, at the age of 33. He is buried at Bois-Carre British Cemetery at Pas de Calais, France.
Private Joseph G. Stark died on April 28, 1917, at the age of 30. He is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial at Pas de Calais, France.
Both brothers are also commemorated at the Union Cemetery in Calgary, Alberta.
Each November, the Field of Crosses in Calgary, Alberta, commemorates these two brothers: Private David Taylor Stark and Private Joseph Gillespie Stark.
#SiblingsDay #FieldofCrosses #CanadaRemembers #NeverForget #CanadianArmedForces #YYCEvents #Calgary #Remembrance #Canada #History #Brothers
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Lest we Forget Lest we Forget we will Remember Them all
On April 1, 1924, the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) was created to defend Canadaโs sovereignty and contribute to global peace and security. It has a long and distinguished history with proud traditions with generations of personnel having served through peace and war.
The R.C.A.F. provides air defence, maritime patrol, national search and rescue, air mobility, space capabilities, and aircraft to support the missions of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army at home and abroad.
The R.C.A.F. is a military partner worldwide, providing security at home through North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and working with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to maintain peace and stability across the globe.
Congratulations to the Royal Canadian Air Force as we celebrate your 100 Anniversary.
Each November the Field of Crosses in Calgary, Alberta commemorates the 1,078 servicemen and women of Southern Alberta who served with Royal Flying Corps (4), Royal Canadian Air Force (1010), Royal Air Force (61) and the RCAF Womenโs Division (3).
#RCAF #CanadianArmedForces #FieldofCrosses #RCAF100 #History #Canada #CanadianMilitary #Veterans
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Happy 100th RCAF.
๐ท Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter Day from all of us at The Field of Crosses. May this day be filled with renewal, hope, and cherished moments with loved ones. ... See MoreSee Less
In 2024, we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the legendary Great Escapeโan extraordinary tale of courage and camaraderie among a diverse group determined to break free from the confines of the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp.
Today, we share the story of Flight Lieutenant Henry Birkland. For the Great Escape operation, Birkland who was at one time a gold miner, became one of the leading and most energetic of the many prisoners who were involved in the tunnelling of three tunnels code named Tom, Dick and Harry.
๐๐ข๐ซ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ง๐, ๐๐๐ง๐ซ๐ฒ
Age 26 โ F/L (P) RCAF
Date of Death: 31/03/1944
Henry Birkland was born 16 August 1917 in Caldwell, Manitoba. Birkland was educated in Calgary, Alberta and worked for the Burns Co. Birkland enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in July 1940 as an aircrew candidate. Following his basic training, he was promoted to leading aircraftman and was posted to elementary flying school RCAF. He graduated in January 1941 and was transferred to No. 9 Service Flight Training School. Now as a qualified pilot he was promoted om April 1941 as a commissioned Pilot Officer. Shortly after, he sailed for England to fly operationally with the Royal Air Force Fighter Command. After six weeks of operational training, Birkland joined No. 122 RAF Command and assigned to Spitfire aircraft. He was later transferred to No. 72 Squadron RAF where he continued to fly Spitfires.
On the afternoon of 7 November 1941, he was on a mission over occupied Europe when he was shot down. After bailing out, he was captured becoming a prisoner of war. Following German interrogation, he was sent to Stalag Luft 1, and later to Stalag Luft 3 which is near Sagan, now in Poland.
The escape plan, conceived by RAF Roger Bushnell, a South African lawyer who also volunteered for the RAF, was for three tunnels and the escape of 200 prisoners in one night. On the night of March 24/25 1944, Birkland was in the first group to go through the tunnel with 75 others, now famously known as โThe Great Escapeโ. Most of the escapees did not get very far, when the alarm was raised and most caught in a massive manhunt. Birkland was recaptured and taken with other prisoners to Gorlitz Prison 36 miles from the camp. In March 1944, Birkland was among the taken from the prison by the Gestapo and were never seen again. As a result, he became one of the 50 who were selected from the 76 escapees and were murdered by the Gestapo on direct orders of Adolf Hitler.
Henry Birkland was just 26 years old. He is buried at Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery in Poland and honored each November in the Field of Crosses.
www.fieldofcrosses.com/
#FieldofCrosses #TheGreatEscape #StalagLuftIII #CanadaRemember #Remembrance #CanadianArmedForces #AirForce #RAF #RCAF
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Thanks Jo-Anne and Ron, /Bart
What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.
A St. Patrickโs Day blessing from one of our favourite Irishmen . . . . . .
โ๐๐ข๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ,
๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ.
๐๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ,
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ
J. Murray McCann
Chairman Emeritus
Field of Crosses
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