Canada Day may be a new custom relatively in London, transcribed from the country, but on the south coast in Folkestone, Canada Day has been celebrated since 1917 in a colourful and poignant unique custom at the Shorncliffe Cemetery below the old barracks. The cemetery at Shorncliffe could rank as one of the most picturesque overlooking the bay at Hythe, here 305 Canadians lay far from the native soil.
The custom was established by Edward Palmer, the founder-editor of the Hythe Reporter newspaper, the son of the first headmaster of Hythe’s National School. He thought up the idea in 1916. Canadians at the time were a common sight in the town, being stationed during the First World War and many injured soldiers returned to the camp above the town. At the time the Canadians already held there Canada Day celebration, then called Dominion Day, with a parade consisting of massed marching bands through union jack and maple lead flagged streets. The event culminated in a military tattoo in Radnor Park. Thus it is worth noting that Canada Day celebrations existed for more than over a 100 years from Edward Palmer’s involvement. Of course, many Canadian soldiers did not recover from the injuries of war and were buried in the Shorncliffe cemetery.
Edward Palmer wrote in the Hythe reporter that he was concerned that the soldier’s families being many thousands of miles away prevented that visiting and attending to the grave and he suggested that a that a day should be established when flowers should be placed on each grave. Stating that ‘who is more fitted to this than the children who wave flags and salute the flag on Empire Day?’
Thus Palmer organise the first event in 1917. In the early evening of the 13th July, 1500 school children assembled at the cemetery joined by the Band of the Canadian Artillery playing the ‘The Maple Leaf’ and the National Anthem. There was no religious service but brief speeches given by two serving Canadian officers as well as the Folkestone Mayor Stephen Penfold and the Vicar of Hythe, Reverend H Dale as well as other Canadian soldiers. After which, the children then solemnly and quietly walked among the graves and left their bouquets and posies on each grave. An account is recorded in Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate and Cheriton Herald June 1917.
“Children Honour Canadians Graves – Tribute to Maple leaf heroes – Pretty Ceremony at Shorncliffe
A very pretty and pleasing ceremony, which it is hoped will be an annual event, was witnessed at the Moore Barracks Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon, when some 1500 school children from Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate and Cheriton gathered to do honour to the Canadian soldiers buried there by placing flowers on all he graves. Every juvenile carried a bunch of flowers, manuy of them being of large size and beautifully arranged and the scene was a remarkably pretty one. The Children were arranged in a square, each school being under the care of its own teachers, while in the centre were the speakers, and the band of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, under Lieutenant Dickinson.”
Palmer continued to organise until his death in 1927, thus ensuring it was well established by the start of the Second World War which as often put a momentary pause to the proceedings but was fortunately reinstated in 1952. It has continued since, even in 2020 a service was held albeit without children, a small number of children attending in 2021 for a socially distanced one.
Over time the custom has changed its name from Flower day to a more obvious Canada Day, but appears to be little known despite its age. The children still attend some walking from their primary schools, others being bused in. They continue to process down the slope. Some holding their flowers which range from large bouquets to small posies. Some holding flags. Much of the ceremony remains as Palmer established, there is still music from an assembled brass band, speeches from the Mayor and Canadian officers, the later recording the significance of the day. Now there is a religious aspect to the ceremony, which adds the necessary solemnity to the event. Many current and old soldiers pay their respects by laying wreaths and attending, often the most elderly watching over from the hillside above. At the end of the ceremony, the children who has sat very patiently and attentively during the 40 minutes or so of the service, knew it was their time. They dutifully stood, and then at the allotted time knelt placing their flowers and then their small wooden cross upon the grave in front, nodding their heads with respect. Their duty undertaken the children were row by row, one by one, dismissed and processed back.
Over time the number of children have dropped and today there is little over a third attending meaning sadly not all graves get flowers, perhaps two graves could be attended by one child if numbers drop to lower numbers. Furthermore, perhaps the custom requires a new name, as the ceremony has now acknowledged the role of the Gurkhas, a number of whom are buried within the cemetery and even today a small population lives in the town. The military band was a Gurkha band in fact.
These points notwithstanding, Folkestone’s celebration of Canada’s contribution continues to be a poignant and picturesque tradition
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