"For King and Country"
Two of our most prized possessions at SouthWest United are the framed, poster-sized documents that came to us in 2007 through the amalgamation of Verdun United with Crawford Park United. The first lists all members of the congregation of Verdun Methodist Church who signed up for service in the Great War, 1914-1918. It also indicates, in red, those who were killed.
The second is similar, listing all from Verdun United who volunteered for active service in World War II (1939-1945). This time, those who died are identified by a star beside their names.
Taking a close look at them recently, I began to wonder: who did the artwork on them? Were they designed by someone local and ordered from a local printer, or were they produced in great numbers for churches all across the country?
A Google search provided some answers about the one from the Second World War. I learned that the identical print can be found hanging in schools, churches, and civic organizations across the country. One thing I hadn’t noticed until I did some reading about these posters, was one additional name, appearing at the very bottom under a small crest that bears the Union Jack and a maple leaf. “A.J. Casson” it says.
Alfred Joseph Casson (1989-1992) was the youngest member of Canada’s Group of Seven landscape painters. What is his name doing on this patriotic print?
Well, like many artists, even very successful ones, Casson had a day job during most of his career. In 1926, a young Casson had taken a management position with Sampson-Matthews, a prominent midtown Toronto lithography and commercial art company.
According to a Maclean’s article from 2018, “In the aftermath of WWII, Casson took it upon himself to design a template for an honour scroll that could be filled out with veterans’ names from particular schools, congregations and other organizations. According to historians and Casson’s daughter Margaret, Sampson-Matthews printed these scrolls in the hundreds or perhaps even the thousands.
Read more about A. J. Casson on Wikipedia
See some of his paintings on the site of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
ROLL OF HONOUR
So much for World War II, what about that poster from World War I?
Well for that one, I didn’t find any exact replicas in my internet search. Many churches have such memorials, but they all seem to be different. Perhaps my theory about local artists and printers is close to the truth when it comes to these scrolls. Casson would certainly have known of their existence, so perhaps they inspired him to design one to honour the dead of the war that came all too soon on the heels of the first one.
Our Roll of Honour scroll does not have a signature at the bottom, so unless we can uncover some mention of it in old papers, the artist’s identity may remain a mystery. Either way, it is a moving and quite beautiful piece of church and local history.
Next time you’re at church, why not take a moment to appreciate the sacrifices of veterans, and the contributions of artists - known and unknown - to preserving their memory.
