‘They fought for our freedoms’: The Grey Cup’s deep connections to military, conflict

The Grey Cup honours Canadian football heroes of the past — many of whom were also war heroes.

“If you take the first three rows (of the Cup), most of them are in Flanders Fields,” Keeper of the Cup Jeff McWhinney told Global News.

On Monday, McWhinney took the Grey Cup to Kildonan Park in Winnipeg, placing it beside the memorial statue for Tommy Prince, Canada’s most decorated Indigenous war hero, who was a member of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation. Some of the names on the cup include men who fought alongside Prince, including Jeff Nicklin.

“Tommy Prince and Jeff Nicklin were both together in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion,” McWhinney said. “Putting them together and thinking about what they did in 1945, with the Liberation of France and also jumping into Germany. It’s pretty wonderful to talk about these two gentlemen in the light of today.”

Nicklin was a CFL Hall of Famer and Grey Cup Champion with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1934 and 1939. He was killed by German forces in 1945 after his parachute became caught in the trees.

“That was his fate; he didn’t return,” said McWhinney, who is named after Nicklin.

Trending Now

The Grey Cup also memorialized championships during conflict and dark times.

The 1942 Grey Cup was a non-civilian game that saw military members go head-to-head with the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes and the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers. The Hurricanes defeated the Bombers 8-5.

“We had 21 guys on the team, 15 of them were deployed, and eight of them did not come back. That’s pretty tough. The last photograph that was taken was that locker room of the boys having a good time,” McWhinney said.

“Their fate was going to be sealed in two years.”

Two years later, in 1944, the Tea Bowl was played, another morale-boosting championship game that was played in London, England.

“We had the Canadian allies and the American allies in a pub debate saying, ‘Whose game is better?'” McWhinney said.

“When we think of the great locker room, putting all these great countries together, we saw 60 minutes of peace in 1944.”

McWhinney says it’s important to him to keep sharing the stories of the war heroes on the Cup, and honouring their memory and sacrifice.

“We got to recognize that Canada is the greatest locker room,” he said.

“We have 4,049 names on here, many of which fought for our freedoms. And if you look at it, it’s 4,049 chapters in one of the greatest history books we have.”