‘We have to keep those remembrances alive’
By Mark Squibb
Most Newfoundlanders visiting France will likely make an effort to walk the Trail of the Caribou, and visit the battlefields where members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment made the ultimate sacrifice during World War I. As a point of fact, many folks visit France for just that reason. Each site is adorned with a bronze caribou statue memorializing fallen members of the Regiment. A sixth caribou statue was commissioned in 2020 to be placed in Gallipoli, Turkey, to complete the Trail of the Caribou. Other stops along the Trail of the Caribou include Beaumont-Hamel, Gueudecourt, Monchy-le-Preux, Masnières, and Courtrai (the lone Belgium monument.)
Frank Gogos, who literally wrote the book on the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the Great War, said he recommends folks brush up on as much history as they can before visiting the sites.
“The biggest thing, for people who have never been before, is how much of a presence Newfoundland had,” said Gogos, who added the first World War was the first time the then colony truly stepped onto the international stage. “I don’t think someone will ever understand until they put their feet on the ground and see it for themselves.”
Like many Newfoundlanders, Gogos’ interest in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment began at home. Gogos’ great-grandfather Joseph Babstock, whose portrait hung in his great-grandmother Mary Kate Babstock’s Bonavista Bay home, enlisted in the Regiment in September of 1915. Joseph died in 1968 – a year before Gogos was born.
The portrait, showing Cpl. Joseph Babstock in his full Royal Newfoundland Regiment garb, held a fascination for Gogos. He broached the subject of Cpl. Babstock’s wartime experience with his great-grandmother only once – the woman, whom Gogos had never seen cry, broke down and sobbed. He never asked again.
“You can read all about Beaumont-Hamel, you can read about everything the Regiment did in World War I, but until you actually put your feet on the ground at the battlefield, and see it for yourself, it’s not going to have an impact,” said Gogos, who has led countless tours of battlefields and memorials across France, Belgium, and Gallipoli. “They know the story when they get there… but when they see the grounds, they start to connect with the tragedy and the horror.”
Gogos was involved in the provincial government’s commitment this past summer to bring 100 students from across the province to Europe to walk the Trail.
He said that getting people, especially young folks, overseas to tour the sites serves a similar purpose to encouraging people to attend local Remembrance Day services.
“The idea was we wanted to get those students overseas and get them interested in the story,” said Gogos. “People like me are sooner or later going to be gone. But we have to keep those remembrances alive, and the only way to do that is through the youth. Because if we don’t get to the youth, the world has this propensity to repeat history. We’re seeing that now in world history as it unfolds. I don’t think it would be shocking to say that we are heading towards a third world war at breakneck speed. It’s because people have not made a connection to the horrors, or they have, and calculated that this is what they think the world needs. I don’t know. But if you can get to the youth, and if those people become the leaders of the future, maybe they can take a step back and have a sober thought before putting someone’s child at risk at the point of a gun, and over what? What are we fighting for all the time?”