COLLINGWOOD, Ont. — The bronze bugler standing above the city's cenotaph represents more than a tribute to those who died in war. It reflects a community whose history is tied to the ships built along its waterfront and the soldiers who left home by train to serve overseas.
On November 11, residents gathered at the memorial outside the Collingwood Museum to honour those who served and those who died in war. Before the annual Remembrance Day ceremony, a guided tour of the museum grounds offered a reminder of how deeply the community's military history is connected to its shipbuilding roots.
Led by museum co-ordinator Lindsay Cook, the tour brought visitors through the stories behind the memorials, including the railway station that once stood on the site. The museum building is a replica of the original station, built in 1873, where local soldiers departed for war. Across the street stood the shipyards, where generations of Collingwood workers helped build vessels that would serve overseas.
The connection between the railway, the shipyards and the cenotaph reflects a community that contributed to the war effort both overseas and at home.
During the First World War, approximately 700 people from Collingwood enlisted. Nine local men were among the first to sign up within the opening 10 days of recruitment. The museum's interactive story map, Beyond the Names, helps bring those service members' experiences closer to home by connecting the stories of the 108 fallen First World War veterans on the cenotaph to locations throughout the community.
The cenotaph itself carries a local story. Designed by Collingwood native Charles MacDonald, a First World War veteran, the bronze soldier was modelled after his brother Fred. Both brothers served with the 48th Highlanders of Canada and were wounded at the Battle of Langemark in April 1915. The figure holds a bugle to his lips, making Collingwood's memorial distinctive among Canadian cenotaphs.
“He’s the only solo bugler I can find,” Cook told tour-goers. “He’s the only one that’s playing.”
The names engraved on the cenotaph honour those who died in service, while separate honour walls recognize community members who served and returned home.
Collingwood's contribution to wartime service extended beyond enlistment. During the Second World War, the shipyards built vessels for the Allied war effort, including corvettes designed to protect supply convoys crossing the Atlantic. Women also worked in the shipyards during the war, contributing to the construction of vessels.
That maritime history was reflected in the ceremony itself. Lorne Kenny read a naval remembrance poem honouring those who served at sea and airmen lost over the water, including those whose bodies were never recovered.
"In ocean wastes, no poppies blow, no crosses stand in ordered row," the poem reads.
The words offered a reminder that not every sacrifice left a grave or a memorial bearing a name, particularly for those lost beneath the waves.
As the ceremony moved toward its 11 a.m. moment of silence, the Collingwood Fire Department sounded its siren before Rob Chambers played the Last Post. Pipe Major Sheila Stewart followed with the lament Flowers of the Forest before the Rouse signalled the end of the silence.
Veterans, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, local cadets, police, firefighters, municipal representatives and residents then took part in the wreath-laying ceremony.
While the memorial honours generations of service, speakers also emphasized that remembrance extends beyond the two world wars.
Gerard Buckley, the Collingwood branch's veterans services officer, asked those gathered to remember the four Canadian Armed Forces members killed during a fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta on Oct. 17, as well as those injured and still recovering.
"We're probably remembering the families of four soldiers that were killed at CFB Wainwright," Buckley said.
He also drew attention to the injured soldiers, including 15 who remained on ventilators and nine who were in critical condition, according to figures he shared during the ceremony.
Buckley encouraged the community to remember modern veterans who served in the Balkans, during peacekeeping missions and in Afghanistan, as well as Canadian service members deployed overseas and the families waiting for their safe return.
"We don't have to always go back to World War I and World War II," he said, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the experiences of more recent generations of veterans.
In remarks reflecting on the meaning of the day, Kenny described the emotions that accompany the annual observance.
"Each year as Remembrance Day approaches, I find myself torn between sorrow and gratitude," Kenny said.
For a community shaped by its waterfront, the naval tribute carried particular significance. The shipyards may have closed in 1986, but their contribution remains part of Collingwood's identity, as does the memory of the people who left the town by train to serve.
More than a century later, the station remains a place of remembrance, and the bugler continues to stand watch over the names of those who never came home.
