Beating the odds

Mural painting of Curley Christian.
Photo: The Military Museums

There are many creative ways to honour those who have sacrificed so much for peace. One of the neatest I’ve seen was The Mural of Honour at The Military Museums in Calgary, Alberta. At first glance, it looks like a huge painting of a Canadian pilot, a soldier and a sailor. When you look closer, though, you will see that it is actually a mosaic of 240 smaller paintings, each telling a story from Canada’s proud military history.

My eyes were drawn to the smaller image of Ethelbert ‘Curley’ Christian, a Black Canadian soldier who fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, 105 years ago. My great-great grandfather, Bonfire the horse, also served in the First World War and told the story of this amazing individual. On 9 April 1917, Curley was badly wounded on the Vimy battlefield. He had to wait two whole days before anyone could come and rescue him. No one expected him to live but beating all odds, he survived! However, his story didn’t end there.

You see, Curley’s arms and legs were so damaged that he had to get artificial ones. He was the only soldier with four amputated limbs to survive the First World War. As you can imagine, he had to learn how to do many everyday things all over again. Many people would have given up hope, but not Curley. He spent the rest of his life working hard to make sure wounded soldiers like him got the help they needed. Now that’s a legacy that lives on!