By Richard Lawrence
To see all the pictures, go to: https://www.richardlawrencephotography.ca/rlpgalleries/2019/candle2019/
The Candlelight Tribute for Veterans ceremony is unique in all the remembrance ceremonies in that it literally highlights the “passing of the torch” of remembrance from the veterans to the youth of Canada. It does this by providing the veterans at the ceremony with electronic candles which they take with them to their seats and then by having those veterans pass the candles to a group of youth selected from scout groups, cadets, Vimy Ridge Foundation, CHAMPs (CHild AMPutees), and other youth organizations as they pass down the aisles between the rows to lay the candles at the foot of wreaths that had just been layed by the official party.
On the 5th November, the Canadian War Museum hosted this year’s event on behalf of the City of Ottawa and started with the entry of the official party: the Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, Deputy-Minister of Veterans Affairs, Walt Natynczyk, the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance, and the acting-Director General of the Canadian War Museum, Ms. Caroline Dromaguet. Almost immediately, the party laid four wreaths in remembrance of the war fallen and a fifth was added by four children representing the youth of Canada. This was followed without pause by the dimming of the auditorium lights and the larger group of youths passing down between the veterans, gathering the candles, and laying them at the base of the wreaths. Upon completion, the lights were raised and it was time for the addresses by the official party.
There were the usual speeches about remembering our fallen, and not to belittle those words or what they mean, they are not what make this ceremony special. The second unique element of this Tribute is the unveiling of the individual who is having a street named after them. Each year, the City, in concert with developers, name a street after a veteran and presents a street sign, with the person’s name and a stylized poppy, to the family. This year, the street is named after Warrant Officer 2nd Class Bertram “Bud” Hannam, a D-Day veteran of the 23rd Field Ambulance who, unfortunately passed away on the 29th June, 2019. On hand to accept the street sign was Bud’s wife, Rosy Hannam, and family.
Ms. Hannam took the opportunity to thank all those who made this honour possible. She assured everyone that Bud would not have accepted this honour on his own behalf but that “the honour goes to all veterans , to all Canadian soldiers in all wars.”. She spoke of the camaraderie of soldiers and the shared loss of innocence and friends but that Bud thought the price paid was worth it. Ultimately, she said, Bud was adamant that “… no-one should have this [war] happen to them. … if you want to honour my legacy, then you must struggle for peace – fight for peace.”
Bud, as a Lance Corporal , landed in Normandy on June 6th, 1944, and served on the continent for the duration of the war serving until discharged in 1968 as a Warrant Officer 2nd Class. Although having passed away, the audience was treated to a documentary of Bud Hannam made by Bruce Deachman, in concert with Library and Archives Canada, Veterans Affairs, and Rosy Hannam. In it, Bud recounted his time on the beach during D-Day, on exiting the landing craft at the beach, and the story of two girls feeding cows in the field and its impact on him.
Bud witnessed a German fighter that was shot and coming down in flames and the pilot appeared to be stuck in the aircraft by a locked canopy. He was clearly going to die in the crash when he spotted the two girls in the field moving their cows from one pasture to another. He maneuvered his aircraft enough that he could machine gun the two girls and the cows before he hit the ground. Bud, with the field ambulance, gathered one of the girls who had been hit through the chest and had an arm dangling and tried to administer plasma but the veins were so flat by this point the only thing he could do was try to address the chest wound. Alas, it was too late and she died in his arms. This scene haunted Bud for the rest of his life.
In 2010 Bud and Rosy Hannam were guests of honour at a ceremony in Basly, France, and the school that served as a casualty clearing station during the war was named after Bud. It was after the ceremony that he was approached by Yvone Bazin, the sister of Emilienne, who died in Bud’s arms 66 years earlier. Four months following this, Bud and Rosy were married in the Basly church where Emilienne is buried and on Sept. 7th, 2019, the town square, where both the church and the library are located, and where Bud served as a medic, was named Bud Hannam Square. Bud Hannam died on June 29th, 2019, at 94 years of age.
What more needs to be said.
As a note of interest, the sign that was presented to the family was “Hannam Bud” and not “Bud Hannam” Street. No one addressed this discrepancy during the ceremony but let’s hope it’s corrected before the sign goes up.
