An 80-year-old tank that has become the most iconic monument of World War II in London, Ontario, emerged on Monday from its restoration for nearly a year in a lively crowd.
The Holy Roller is one of two Canadian World War II battle tanks that survived the D-Day assault until the end of the war in Europe. It was exhibited in Victoria Park in 1956 and has become a lasting monument to the greatest conflict of the 20th century.
Although German weapons could not destroy the Holy Roller, more than half a century of Canadian climate was beginning to take its toll on the old war horse, which began its restoration last year.
On Monday, at its official presentation on what will also be Memorial Day in the United States, the old war machine drew a crowd of about 100. They were made up of volunteers, former military and dignitaries who applauded as the giant of the steel was advancing slowly. forward, advancing on its own power for the first time since the late 1940s.
Restoration of a community effort
“It was really amazing,” said Ian Haley, a retired lieutenant colonel with the first hussars and director of the restoration project, who has several family connections to the Holy Roller.
Ian Haley, a retired lieutenant colonel, is in front of the fully restored Holy Roller at Fanshawe College. (Colin Butler / CBC News)
“We all grew up with it. My kids worked there. I worked there. My father-in-law, before he died, was the regiment commander. It was his tank.”
The restoration of the monument was a community effort, made possible by dozens of volunteers and various local organizations.
The list includes:
- 1st Hussars Regiment of London.
- Weapon Manufacturer General Dynamic Land Systems Canada.
- Fanshawe College.
- Tobaggan Brewing, a craft brewery that helped fund part of the project with part of the proceeds from its Holy Roller Lager.
“This has been a fabulous community project,” said Peter Devlin, president of Fanshawe College, where much of the vehicle restoration work was done.
Close to Victoria Park
Devlin, a former military man, said he visited regularly to see the work. What had a lasting effect on him was the body spirit of those working on the project.
One of two Canadian Sherman tanks that survived the D-Day assault until the end of the war in Europe, the Holy Roller has been a monument in London, Ontario, to those who served in World War II since 1956. (Colin Butler / CBC News)
“It was great to see the friendship, camaraderie and morale of that group, as a group of soldiers and the pride they felt in restoring this magnificent monument.”
The Holy Roller will return to its original location in Victoria Park on Tuesday, where Haley hopes it could be at least another 50 years before it needs to be restored.
Haley hopes that the present and future generations who look at the old fighting machine will reflect on the people who fought inside their steel belly and made sacrifices for the good of the community.
“We also want them to think that it’s not a memorial to a lot of supermen, but a lot of normal people who did a lot of extraordinary things.”
Haley said the lessons taught to us by those citizen soldiers fighting in the ring of World War II are especially valid today, as many people talk about freedom, but little about citizenship itself.
“Some of them, unfortunately, did not return. There is a price for freedom. Freedom is not cheap.”