Canadian war memorials
The history of Canada comprises hundreds of years of armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Canada, and the role of the Canadian military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. Much of this military history of Canada is commemorated today with memorials across the country and around the world. Canadian memorials commemorate the sacrifices made as early as the Seven Years' War to the modern day War on Terror. As Newfoundland was a British Dominion until joining Confederation in 1949, there are several monuments in Newfoundland and Labrador and abroad which were dedicated to Newfoundland servicemen and women.
There are currently 6,293 war memorials in Canada registered with the National Inventory of Military Memorials, which is under the Canadian Department of Veterans Affairs.[1] There are also war memorials across the world, some of which are operated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which are dedicated to Canada as well as the Commonwealth members. There currently are 17 in France, six in Belgium, four in the United Kingdom, two in Afghanistan and in South Korea and one each in Egypt, Hong Kong, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
War memorials in Canada
Colonial period
North-West Rebellion and the Boer War
First and Second World Wars
The war memorial sculptors at work in Canada in the years following the Great War include: Emanuel Hahn, George W. Hill, Frank Norbury, Walter Allward, Hamilton MacCarthy, Coeur de Lion MacCarthy, Alfred Howell, Sydney March, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Henri Hebert, J. Massey Rhind, Hubert Garnier, Nicholas Pirotton, Charles Adamson, Frances Loring, and Ivor Lewis.
Memorial name | Image | Location | Map | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Camp X Memorial | Whitby Ontario | 43°51′20.28″N 078°53′00.06″W / 43.8556333°N 78.8833500°W | Honours the men and women of Camp X who served during the Second World War. | |
Halifax Memorial | Halifax, Nova Scotia | 44°37′08.76″N 063°33′55.93″W / 44.6191000°N 63.5655361°W | Dedicated to the Canadian servicemen and women who died at sea during both World Wars and includes the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Merchant Navy and the Canadian Army. | |
Memorial Gates | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | 52°07′45.43″N 106°38′34.05″W / 52.1292861°N 106.6427917°W | Military memorial which is a part of the University of Saskatchewan. | |
The Saskatoon Cenotaph | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | 52°07′48.8″N 106°39′37.15″W / 52.130222°N 106.6603194°W | Designed by Francis Henry Portnall (1928), this tall granite plinth incorporating a public clock face is a part of the City Hall Square[4] | |
Vimy Memorial Bandshell | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | 52°07′28.24″N 106°39′33.42″W / 52.1245111°N 106.6592833°W | The Vimy Memorial Bandshell in Kiwanis Park was built in 1937 to honour the men and women that served in the First World War at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.[5] | |
Memorial Clock Tower | Wainwright, Alberta | 52°50′00.66″N 110°51′39.76″W / 52.8335167°N 110.8610444°W | Dedicated to the local men who fought and died in both World Wars. | |
War Memorial of Montreal West | Montreal, Quebec | 45°28′21.00″N 073°36′49.32″W / 45.4725000°N 73.6137000°W | Honours those from the town of Montreal West who died in the First World War[6] | |
Montreal Clock Tower | Montreal, Quebec | 45°30′44.44″N 073°32′44.84″W / 45.5123444°N 73.5457889°W | Dedicated to Canadian naval sailors who died during the First World War. | |
Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Memorial | Victoria, British Columbia | 48°25′14.20″N 123°22′16.66″W / 48.4206111°N 123.3712944°W | Dedicated to Canadian volunteers of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion during the Spanish Civil War. | |
Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Memorial | Ottawa, Ontario | 45°26′24.61″N 075°41′47.05″W / 45.4401694°N 75.6964028°W | Dedicated to Canadian volunteers of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion during the Spanish Civil War. | |
National War Memorial | St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | 47°34′03.28″N 052°42′13.67″W / 47.5675778°N 52.7037972°W | Memorial for soldiers who served with the Dominion of Newfoundland during the First World War. | |
Ottawa Memorial | Ottawa, Ontario | 45°26′27.08″N 075°41′45.90″W / 45.4408556°N 75.6960833°W | Dedicated to missing airmen of the Second World War. Sometimes known as the Commonwealth Air Force Monument. | |
Soldiers' Tower | Toronto, Ontario | 43°39′48.78″N 079°23′42.52″W / 43.6635500°N 79.3951444°W | Commemorates members of the University of Toronto who served in the World Wars. | |
Victory Square | Vancouver, British Columbia | 49°16′55.56″N 123°06′36.72″W / 49.2821000°N 123.1102000°W | Dedicated to Vancouverites who served in the First World War. | |
Montreal Cenotaph | Montreal, Quebec | 45°29′55.03″N 073°34′07.75″W / 45.4986194°N 73.5688194°W | Dedicated to Montrealers who died in the First World War. | |
Sherbrooke War Memorial | Sherbrooke, Quebec | 45°24′02″N 071°53′29″W / 45.40056°N 71.89139°W | Dedicated to citizens of Sherbrooke who fought in the First World War | |
Saint-Lambert Cenotaph by Emanuel Hahn | Saint-Lambert, Quebec | Dedicated to citizens of Saint-Lambert who fought in the First World War | ||
Ashburnham Memorial Park | Peterborough, Ontario | 44°18′36″N 078°18′10″W / 44.31000°N 78.30278°W | Memorial to the men of Peterborough who died in the First World War. | |
Great War Memorial | Niagara Falls, Ontario | 43°05′23.81″N 079°04′22.57″W / 43.0899472°N 79.0729361°W | Memorial to those who died in the First and Second World Wars. | |
Bronze Angel | Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia (pictured); Winnipeg, Manitoba |
"Bronze Angel", by sculptor, Coeur Lion MacCarthy, war memorial depicts the angel of victory raising up a young soldier to heaven at the moment of his death, 1921 commemorates 1,115 Canadian Pacific Railway employees killed during the First World War erected at the Canadian Pacific Railway stations.[7] | ||
Cremation Memorial | Ottawa, Ontario | 45°26′42″N 075°39′57″W / 45.44500°N 75.66583°W | A sheltered space in the National Cemetery of Canada that honours the memory of Canadian servicemen who died in Canada and the United States and who were cremated.[7] | |
Animals in War Memorial / Les animaux en temps de guerre | Ottawa, Ontario | 45°25′21.84″N 075°41′31.68″W / 45.4227333°N 75.6921333°W | A memorial by David Clendining to animals (mainly mules, horse, dogs, pigeons) that have served for Canada in military conflicts since World War I and is located in Confederation Park | |
Monument des Braves | Shawinigan, Quebec | 46°32′22.38″N 072°45′12.85″W / 46.5395500°N 72.7535694°W | Honours those who died in both world wars | |
Cross of Sacrifice | Quebec City, Quebec | 46°48′31.9″N 071°12′43.85″W / 46.808861°N 71.2121806°W | Honours those who died in the wars of 1914-1918, 1939-1945, 1950-1953 |
1945 – present
Memorial name | Image | Location | Map | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Camp Mirage Memorial | Trenton, Ontario | 25°01′37″N 055°22′15″E / 25.02694°N 55.37083°E | Commemorates all the Canadian dead in Afghanistan. Originally located in Camp Mirage, United Arab Emirates.[8] | |
Korean War Memorial Wall | Brampton, Ontario | 43°38′30.58″N 079°44′57.01″W / 43.6418278°N 79.7491694°W | Commemorates those Canadians who served in the Korean War. | |
The North Wall/Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial | Windsor, Ontario | 42°18′37.36″N 083°04′11.06″W / 42.3103778°N 83.0697389°W | Dedicated to Canadians who volunteered with the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. |
Generic war memorials
War memorials overseas
Memorial name | Image | Location | Map | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canada Memorial | Green Park, London, England | 51°30′10.36″N 000°08′33.48″W / 51.5028778°N 0.1426333°W | Pays tribute to the nearly one million Canadian men and women who served in the United Kingdom during the First and Second World Wars. |
First World War
Second World War – present
Memorial name | Image | Location | Map | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bergen op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery | Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands | 51°30′07″N 004°19′49″E / 51.50194°N 4.33028°E | Cemetery for 1118 Commonwealth soldiers, 971 of whom are Canadian. It is adjacent to the Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery, which contains the graves of 1284 Commonwealth soldiers. | |
Canadian WW2 Section | Brookwood, Surrey, England | 51°18′01″N 000°38′27.39″W / 51.30028°N 0.6409417°W | Brookwood has a WW1 and this WW2 Canadian Section adjacent to the Canadian Records Hall with sculpted beaver and legend 'A Mari usque ad Mare' | |
Gapyeong Canada Monument | Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea | 37°52′36.71″N 127°31′48.79″E / 37.8768639°N 127.5302194°E | Dedicated to the sacrifices made by the Canadian forces during the Korean war, especially at the Battle of Kapyong. | |
Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery | Groesbeek, Netherlands | 51°47′53.92″N 5°55′54.76″E / 51.7983111°N 5.9318778°E | Cemetery for the dead from the Second World War. | |
Kandahar Airfield Memorial and Memorial Inuksuk | Kandahar, Afghanistan | 31°30′21″N 065°50′52″E / 31.50583°N 65.84778°E | The Airfield Memorial is dedicated to Canadians who have fallen in the War in Afghanistan and the Inuksuk to those Canadians, as well as other coalition members who were killed in fighting in Afghanistan. | |
Malta Memorial | Floriana, Malta | 35°53′40.57″N 014°30′28.27″E / 35.8946028°N 14.5078528°E | Dedicated to Commonwealth aircrew (including Canadians) who fought, and lost their lives, in the Mediterranean during the Second World War. | |
Monument to Canadian Fallen (Korean War Monument) | United Nations Memorial Cemetery Busan, South Korea |
35°07′41″N 129°05′49″E / 35.12806°N 129.09694°E | Located where 378 Canadians are buried. An identical monument is in downtown Ottawa.[11] | |
National Canadian Liberation Monument | Apeldoorn, Netherlands | Celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadians, featuring the sculpture Man with Two Hats, identical to one in Ottawa. |
Legacy
The 31 paintings of Canadian War Memorials by F.A. (Tex) Dawson were unveiled just outside Currie Hall in the Mackenzie Building at Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston on Wednesday 7 April 2010. Jack Pike, the chairman of the Royal Military College of Canada Museum's board of directors, said they had found a permanent and appropriate home. "We are delighted to have these paintings," he said in front of the assemblage of paintings, each representing a different memorial in a different setting and different seasons. "These are symbolic of sacrifice and remembrance and they do the whole thing so well."[12]
See also
- Canadian War Museum
- List of Canadian Victoria Cross recipients
- List of Royal Military College of Canada Memorials and traditions
- List of conflicts in Canada
References
- ↑ "DHH – Search for a Memorial". www.veterans.gc.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
- ↑ Rob Roberts (3 November 2008). "Coupland's War of 1812 monument tweaks U.S. noses". The National Post. National Post Inc. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ↑ Central Memorial Park
- ↑ The Saskatoon Cenotaph
- ↑ Vimy Memorial, Kiwanis Park, Saskatoon Sask.
- ↑ War Memorial of Montréal West
- 1 2 Jacqueline Hucker. "Canadian Encyclopedia Monuments, World Wars I and II". Thecanadianencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ↑ Camp Mirage Memorial
- ↑ Canadian Veterans And Peacekeepers Permanently Honoured On The Grounds Of Queen's Park
- ↑ Memorial Park and Cenotaph 390 1st Street East
- ↑ "Monument to Canadian Fallen (Korean War Monument)". Public Art and Monuments. Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada. October 25, 2013.
- ↑ "31 paintings of Canadian War Memorials by F.A. (Tex) Dawson". Kingstonwhigstandard.com. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- Philip Longworth, The Unending Vigil: A History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1917–1967 (1967).
- Robert Shipley, To Mark Our Place (1987).
- Herbert Fairlie Wood and John Swettenham, Silent Witnesses (1974).
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to War memorials in Canada. |
- Memorials to Canadians' Achievements & Sacrifices
- National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials (NICMM)