During World War I, YMCA Canada had a Military Service Department. The work of this department included sports, recreation and educational activities, reading rooms, canteens, entertainment, accommodation and religious services for the young soldiers serving in Canada and Europe.
This decorated shell casing was crafted into a vase at a recreation centre in France Europe on November 4th 1919, bringing a close to the YMCA’s arduous tour of duty.
Ninety years later, his daughter Margery Little Rean King donated this keepsake to our archives. A souvenir of wartime service but also a powerful symbol of what it meant to "beat spears into pruning hooks" back then. Margery was married to William Lyon Mackenzie King II, the nephew of our 10th Prime Minister. Her husband was killed in World War II, leaving her to raise two small children as a single parent. After a remarkable career as an academic and advocate for the health and wellbeing of children and youth, she died at 96 in January 2010.
The vase reminds us of our work among Canadian troops during a dark period in the world’s history. YMCA volunteer and staff members in that era made extraordinary sacrifices to do what they could: bring comfort, inspire hope and sustain the morale of those who fought to secure the freedom of future generations.
During this national week of remembrance, we remember Walter, Margery and all those who follow in their footsteps to be wherever young people are and wherever we are needed most. Always at the frontlines. Always where something old is being transformed into something very new.
