In this English city, memories of Canadian soldiers and nurses loom large

I didn’t expect, while on a recent trip to Buxton, England, to find myself crouching before 29 shining white tombstones of Canadian soldiers, clustered under a row of holly trees bearing bright red fruit. Rain fell onto the precisely trimmed grass and a grey October wind blew the red roses growing between the graves.

On Nov. 11, locals will gather for the annual ceremony here, to light candles and lay wreaths to honour these men, casualties of the First World War who now rest far from where they lived and died.