John Oliver was a stretcher-bearer with the 139th Machine Gun Battalion and served at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Arras, and Amiens. In Arras, his unit was in the houses on one side of the street and the German soldiers were on the other side. “There was a pump with fresh water between them. The Canadian soldiers would listen for the creaking of the pump when the Germans drew water; when the noise abated they would go for their supply,” J. Lloyd Oliver wrote in a biography about his dad, called From Crook to Chaplain.

John also served as a chaplain in the Second World War. Even so, he was against war. “Dad had no use for war. He often quoted the statement: Truth is the first casualty of war,” J. Lloyd wrote in his book. He said his dad didn’t like war because of the senseless killing of millions by people who didn’t have any personal knowledge or quarrel with them” and that the government spent so much money for destructive purposes.

John’s most memorable time at war was the delivery of the armistice message to his battalion. It read: “At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, hostilities will cease on all fronts. Troops are to stand face and wait further instructions.” An officer in his unit pressured John to hand over the duplicate copy but he mailed it back to Canada and had it framed when he returned. After the war, John was the minister in Champion, Alberta, and referred to that message in sermons and Remembrance Day services.

He died in 1979.

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