Anyone who drives down Stephen Street in Morden in the coming weeks will look up to find banners lining the route. Each one features an image and a short profile of a veteran — a looming reminder of those who have placed their dreams and comforts aside for the sake of their communities and the country overall.
Banners are also displayed in some store-front windows, the Access Event Centre, and the Morden Legion. The project was established in 2018 by Ken Wiebe MMM, CD (Ret), a former Morden mayor and veteran. He still coordinates the banner project today.
Wiebe says that any time he begins to wonder if care for the project will wane, he gets more phone calls about it.
“People are interested,” he says. “I am amazed sometimes. Especially [at] the response — there's one family [who came to the banner unveiling] with about 20 people.”
A family with deep local roots
Wiebe is referencing the Clayton family. Private Charles Reginald Clayton, born in Morden, is one of the veterans honoured in the banners this year. His service took him to Britain in 1943 and France in 1944. He fought with the 10th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division until the end of the war. He was demobilized in early 1946. Many of his relatives, including his brother, the late musician Stew Clayton, have remained in the area.
“It's just really good to see that his memory is being kept alive,” says Wiebe. “It's not fresh, but they know that this is part of their history.”
One of the family members in attendance was Dawn Clayton, the daughter-in-law of Private Clayton. She is the one who gathered his story.
“I had to do a lot of research,” she says. “He never talked much about it, so we had to do a lot of digging.”
Clayton says she’s “very proud” of her father-in-law's achievements.
A bulldozer and enemy fire
For Wiebe, through the process of learning about the highlighted veterans, their stories become vivid.
“You get somebody like McNaughton, . . . what he did was extremely heroic. He took his bulldozer, and he cut a bank down so that the infantry and the armoured corps could get across the river while he was being shot at,” he says. “He got a military medal for that. They're not just giving those away — those are not a draw to see who gets the medal. You have to do something pretty brave to get that medal and what he did was extremely heroic. I think it's important that everybody knows that the people who did these things are from here.”
Sapper Milton Coll McNaughton, born southwest of Miami, had a history with heavy machinery before his service. Because of this, he was assigned to the Royal Canadian Engineers. After his successful military career ended in 1945, he took up a life of farming with his brother and then built his own log cabin in British Columbia. He spent the remainder of his life at his cabin until his passing in 2000.
“They're not just some random strangers from a community. They are people that grew up and lived in Morden and around Morden,” says Wiebe. “The job of the Legion is to make everybody aware, and that's what we're trying to do . . . . The cost of freedom is very high — it doesn't come freely. It takes a lot of sacrifice.”
A young life lost
Honouree Private George Arthur Simmons made the ultimate sacrifice. Private Simmons was born in the Morden area. He signed his attestation papers on September 24th, 1914 in Valcartier, Quebec and was placed with the 6th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, H Company of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). While he was serving in France, he was injured in an artillery attack and lost his life soon after. He was 19 years old.
Without Wiebe’s care and curiosity, Simmons’ story may have been lost to time.
“I saw his name on one of the plaques in the park where the cenotaph is, and I thought, ‘well, that would be an interesting story,’ so I started doing some research [through] Library and Archives Canada,” he says. “[I] came up with his story and [a] little piece from the Morden Times. It was very interesting to read all this stuff and find out all this information.”
Wiebe included the Morden Times article, dated August 8th, 1915, in Private Simmons' biography at the banner unveiling ceremony.
Morden, Man. Aug 8 – Word was received here from the war office by Arthur Simmons that his son, George, had died of wounds which he received while fighting in France. Although Morden has proved to be one of the leading rural country recruiting points, this is the first report received here to the effect that a Morden boy had met his death at the hands of the Huns. George A. Simmons left Morden with the first contingent and although with the 6th Battalion for some time, was a member of the Strathcona’s Horse when he was injured in an artillery attack. -The Morden Times, 1915.
Wiebe says that he also tried to discover if any Simmons family members remain in Morden. His search came up empty. Even so, thanks to Wiebe’s hard work, Private George Arthur Simmons will be remembered.
A man who loved the Royal Canadian Legion
The fourth veteran to be commemorated with a banner this year is Able Seaman Frederick William Lyne. He was born in Pilot Mound and raised in Snowflake. Able Seaman Lyne enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in November of 1961 as an Ordinary Seaman and was then promoted to the rank of Able Seaman two years later in 1963. After he completed his career in the RCN in 1964, he had a variety of other careers over the years. Until his passing in 2021, he also enjoyed travelling all over the world with his wife, Colleen. Able Seaman Lyne was proud of his service in the RCN — he was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for over four decades.
Related stories:
- Portion of Morden's North Railway Ave. to be designated Veteran's Way
- Altona veteran reunited with his service medals
As the banner project has developed over the years, the unveiling process has become more and more cherished. Since 2022, organizers have developed a formal program to accompany the reveal, which includes a reading of each biography. So far, 73 banners have been created in six years from various conflicts. Veterans from WWI, WWII, the Korean War, Afghanistan, and the Cold War have been commemorated. Those who participated in Peacekeeping Missions have also received banners. This year's unveiling event was held on October 8th.
For Wiebe, the stories of these service people are important to the legacy and the history of the region. Judging from the enthusiasm he sees, the community agrees.
“There's history here and people are interested in it,” he says.
As we enter the season of remembrance, watch PembinaValleyOnline for more stories about poppies, sharing the lives of veterans, and the importance of remembering.
~With files from Ty Hildebrand~