Sappers Honoured With Rededication Ceremony

DND/Canadian Forces ^ | 2009-11-07 | (press release)

[Clive]

Sappers Honoured With Rededication Ceremony

NR - 09.099 - November 7, 2009

CHILLIWACK, B.C. – The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Member of Parliament Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, and Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and Major-General Daniel Benjamin, Canadian Forces Chief Military Engineer, today rededicated a memorial to all military engineers who have laid down their lives for their country.

The All Sappers Memorial recognizes the sacrifices of military engineers, known as sappers, in both peacetime and in war. There are four inscriptions on the memorial, including the one that conveys the essential spirit of all of them: “In Memory of All Sappers of the Empire who have given their lives in the Service of Their Country.”

“Military engineers are present everywhere the Canadian Forces go; building defence infrastructure, roads and waterways, and disarming IEDs” said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway. “The All Sappers Memorial is a truly fitting memorial that recognized the work, dedication and sacrifices of Canada’s military engineers.”

“The work of Canada's military engineers in the spring flood of 1948 is the stuff of legend” said the Honourable Chuck Strahl. “It is only natural that our community would want to recognize their heroism and sacrifice by rededicating the All Sappers Memorial.”

Lieutenant-Colonel Coulson Norman Mitchell, VC, MC, RCE, Commander of Camp Chilliwack at the time, oversaw the original design and the construction of the park. The monument, which was originally unveiled by the Governor General Sir Harold Alexander, Field Marshal the Earl Alexander of Tunis, on July 14, 1946, is made out of granite stone and weighs 42 tonnes. It was quarried by the Royal Canadian Engineers at nearby Harrison Lake, British Columbia, and transported to Chilliwack for cutting into the monument present today.

Canada Lands Company (CLC) Limited has been the custodian of the All Sappers Memorial since the closure of Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack in 1998. CLC has made a planned investment of close to $1-million to revitalize the memorial and enhance the surrounding grounds in preparation for the rededication. The site will be turned over to the City of Chilliwack to be maintained in perpetuity as the All Sappers Memorial Park.

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[Clive]

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[Clive]

Sappers
by Rudyard Kipling

When the Waters were dried an' the Earth did appear,
("It's all one," says the Sapper),
The Lord He created the Engineer,
Her Majesty's Royal Engineer,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!

When the Flood come along for an extra monsoon,
'Twas Noah constructed the first pontoon
To the plans of Her Majesty's, etc.

But after fatigue in the wet an' the sun,
Old Noah got drunk, which he wouldn't ha' done
If he'd trained with, etc.

When the Tower o' Babel had mixed up men's bat,
Some clever civilian was managing that,
An' none of, etc.

When the Jews had a fight at the foot of a hill,
Young Joshua ordered the sun to stand still,
For he was a Captain of Engineers, etc.

When the Children of Israel made bricks without straw,
They were learnin' the regular work of our Corps,
The work of, etc.

For ever since then, if a war they would wage,
Behold us a-shinin' on history's page --
First page for, etc.

We lay down their sidings an' help 'em entrain,
An' we sweep up their mess through the bloomin' campaign,
In the style of, etc.

They send us in front with a fuse an' a mine
To blow up the gates that are rushed by the Line,
But bent by, etc.

They send us behind with a pick an' a spade,
To dig for the guns of a bullock-brigade
Which has asked for, etc.

We work under escort in trousers and shirt,
An' the heathen they plug us tail-up in the dirt,
Annoying, etc.

We blast out the rock an' we shovel the mud,
We make 'em good roads an' -- they roll down the khud,
Reporting, etc.

We make 'em their bridges, their wells, an' their huts,
An' the telegraph-wire the enemy cuts,
An' it's blamed on, etc.

An' when we return, an' from war we would cease,
They grudge us adornin' the billets of peace,
Which are kept for, etc.

We build 'em nice barracks -- they swear they are bad,
That our Colonels are Methodist, married or mad,
Insultin', etc.

They haven't no manners nor gratitude too,
For the more that we help 'em, the less will they do,
But mock at, etc.

Now the Line's but a man with a gun in his hand,
An' Cavalry's only what horses can stand,
When helped by, etc.

Artillery moves by the leave o' the ground,
But we are the men that do something all round,
For we are, etc.

I have stated it plain, an' my argument's thus
("It's all one," says the Sapper),
There's only one Corps which is perfect -- that's us;
An' they call us Her Majesty's Engineers,
Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!

[fanfan]

Thanks for the ping, Clive.