The federal government is preparing a national tribute to mark the death of the last Canadian veteran of the Second World War, as the number of surviving service members falls below 1,600.
Blacklock's Reporter says Veterans Affairs Canada has labeled the passing of the war’s final eyewitness a “military milestone” deserving of official commemoration.
“This includes developing plans to recognize the death of the last known living veterans of the Second World War,” the department wrote in its Commemoration Strategic Plan.
The tribute would reflect the historic scale of the conflict and the role Canadians played from 1939 to 1945.
Pension data indicates just 1,592 Second World War veterans remain, with an average age of 99. The Strategic Plan noted that public interest in their legacy remains strong, citing surveys that show 88% of Canadians believe military history should be taught in schools.
Canada's final Victoria Cross recipient from the war, Ernest “Smokey” Smith of Vancouver, died in 2005 and was honoured with a state funeral. Smith was recognized for extraordinary bravery during the 1944 Italian campaign.
National tributes have been rare but not unprecedented. John Babcock, the last Canadian to serve in the First World War, died in 2010 at age 109, though his family declined official honours. Babcock never saw combat, having trained with the 146th Battalion before spending most of his life in the United States.
George Ives of British Columbia, the last Canadian veteran of the 1899 Boer War, died in 1993 at 111. He had been awarded the Queen Victoria Medal.
Earlier generations of Canadian veterans, including those from the 1885 Northwest Rebellion and the War of 1812, were similarly remembered as their final members passed away.
The Second World War remains Canada’s largest military campaign, with 1,159,000 Canadians, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians serving. Total casualties reached 96,456. The nation’s bloodiest single day occurred during the Dieppe Raid on August 19, 1942, where 3,367 of 4,963 Canadians were killed, wounded or captured — 68%.
“Dieppe occupies a place of its own in the story of the war,” wrote Winston Churchill in The Hinge Of Fate. “Many splendid deeds were done. The results were very disappointing and our casualties were very heavy.”
The last known Canadian to survive the Dieppe Raid, Kenneth Curry of Surrey, B.C., died in 2020 at age 97.
