Ruby Smith, Heritage Arts Legacy, December 15th, 2022, VOL. 4 ISSUE 9
Fort Erie has an incredibly special ship bell that reaches back into the very first decade of Fort Erie being incorporated as a village. Fort Erie separated from Bertie Township in 1857, making Fort Erie ten years older than Canada. That Fort Erie business took place in a schoolhouse where official meetings were held at the corner of Waterloo & Forsyth Streets. That school burnt down, and a new school was built on John Street and Waterloo. The building, built by George Burger, still exists and serves today as an apartment building.
The first record we have of the BELL was written by Marguerite Raymond. She wrote of Fort Erie’s history and had the stories published by the Times Review in 1949 and 1950. In reference to the bell of John Street school, she wrote, “Many a business or professional man of the town once raced down the hill (Bertie Hill) to the call of its clanging bell. This bell has quite a history, finding a second home when the Douglas School was replacing the old school then upon the dome of the new Town Hall on Queen Street, where it sent out its alarms for fire and other emergencies and rang out the end of the war in 1918. During WW2, when a frigate was named Fort Erie, the bell was sent to that ship from the town, to be returned to the town again when the war ended. Where is it now?”
The bell, now owned by the Ministry of Defence returned the bell in 1945 after WW2 to Royal Canadian Legion Branch 71, where it has been held ever since.
The ship that Margaret made reference to was the HMCS Fort Erie, a river class frigate assigned escort duties for convoys departing and arriving at Halifax until the end of WW2. This duty meant warding off German submarines. The battle of the Atlantic was the longest running battle of WW2. HMCS Fort Erie # 312 earned along with the bell, battle honour “Atlantic 1945”.
HCMS Fort Erie was built in 1944 by George T. Davie and Sons Ltd. At Lanzon Quebec, was decommissioned by the Canadian Navy, and recalled by the Navy in 1954 to serve as a training ship until 1965. In 1966, she was broken up at La Spezia Italy and the town received the second bell which is held by the Fort Erie Historical Museum.
Towns get ships named for them because they adopted the ship. Fort Erie raised about $3,000 to purchase comforts for the ship’s crew. Ladies from the town got schoolchildren involved. Kids brought in donations of consumable items like tins of sardines and other items like soap, combs, and especially cigarettes to fill the sailor’s ditty bags.
Once a week ladies would visit classrooms and pass out knitting to the students. At Mather School, they passed out socks, four needles no less. These navy-blue wool socks needed a lot of repairs after students dropped more stitches than they knitted. At Rose Seaton, they knitted afghan squares.
When WW2 broke out, the BELL had been collecting dust in the Town Hall basement. Along with the Jarvis Street bell, town fathers decided to have them sold for scrap. After selling the Jarvis Street bell though, they decided to not to sell the Queen Street BELL, and it was kept in reserve. When the opportunity came, the BELL was presented to the frigate Fort Erie.
Councillor Pullen in 1944 advised the Times Review that “…the purchase of comforts for the new frigate is complete and they will be made available for public inspection at the rear of the Masonic building about 27 October 1944, just prior to being shipped to the yards. The only article which will not be on exhibition is a piano which will be shipped directly”.
A triangle run used by convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic still firmly links Halifax, St. John’s, and Londonderry. These ports handled hundreds of convoys carrying millions of tonnes of food, raw materials, war materials, and troops to relieve and support beleaguered Britain. Nearly 2000 from the Royal Canadian Navy, 1600 Canadian merchant sailors, and 859 airmen were killed protecting convoys during the battle of the Atlantic.
Bells have long been a significant symbol to sailors. They are used in ceremonies, and while on ship, they mark the passing of time. Eight bells toll at the end of a watch and at navy funerals.
Naval veterans on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean collaborated to provide each of the three cities with a Commemorative Convoy Bell, representing the triangle run of the North Atlantic Convoy Escort group during WW2. Bells remind generations to come, of the awful cost of freedom (Robert Buchanan). Fundraising for the three bells began in 2005 and was completed in 2018.
In 2014 Heritage Arts Legacy of Fort Erie identified, and marked each War of 1812 veteran’s grave site with a granite plaque, held a ceremony for each, and registered 42 Fort Erie Militia men with the Canada Graveside Project. That Christmas, 25 December 2014, because we were so proud of these men, we visited each grave site with a prayer. To honour these 42 militia and others like them who are Canada’s first veterans and to commemorate 200 years of Peace, we got permission from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 71, to ring that historic BELL.
The War of 1812 ended in August 1814 and became official with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium on 24 December 1814, between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.
On 24 December 2014, Heritage Arts launched between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m., a bell-ringing world movement.
In 2014, the Tribune reported, “Bells will be ringing out across Niagara – and elsewhere in the world – to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812.”
When we invite people to bring bells and join our bell-ringing ceremony, we hear “People are busy at Christmas” and we think “Gee, how come we did not know that?”
We have not missed a year of ringing the Bell since 2014. In 2020, the Legion was closed, but three Heritage Arts members along with Mayor Redekop rang bells at the Branch 71 Cenotaph.
Mayor Redekop has participated in every single ceremony since 2014. Each year, he encourages us to do it again the next year and because of his support, we do.
From 2014 to 2017, we rang the BELL with a mallet because the clapper was welded shut. Burdette Sisler, a 100-year-old WW2 veteran rang it with his cane. In 2018, the clapper was released by Rich Dube, a Heritage Arts volunteer, so that the BELL could ring properly for the 100-year anniversary of the WW1 BELLS RINGING PROJECT all across Canada at dusk.
The Peace Bridge was built and completed in 1927 to commemorate 100 years of Peace between our two countries. In 2015 and 2016, on the 24th of December, the Peace Bridge was lit in white for Peace and gold for Remembrance.
On 24 December 2014, at 4:00 the Buffalo skyline was a complete golden glow. Magic happened. On 24 December 2015 at 4:00, a huge moon filled the sky at the U.S. end of the bridge. More magic! We look each year but have seen no more spectacular sights.
In 2019 at the BELL ringing ceremony, we presented to Mayor Redekop, a 32-foot Peace Bell Tower proposal. In 2021, we launched this effort with a design by Jason Pizzicarola, JPD Architects Inc. The tower would be made of limestone, the same stone used in the construction of Mather Arch.
Come out on 24 December 2022 at 4:00 to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 71, and join our little Band of Patriots, bring your bells and participate in this world-wide historic ceremony.
Canada needs your half hour!
