Saturday 23 December 2017

Kingston - Municipal Airport

 

Location:  Frontenac County     N 44 13.159   W 76 35.590
At the Kingston Municipal Airport, on Hampton Gray Gate.
 

The memorial is a Harvard trainer aircraft mounted on a pedestal at the Royal Canadian Air Force Association 416 Wing.  A plaque of dedication is mounted on the shaft of the pedestal, along with a second plaque mounted on a stone beside the aircraft.  The plaque on the shaft mentions the details of the memorial, while the plaque on the stone honours the memory of Robert Hampton Gray V.C., who trained at this airfield for service in the Second World War.
The Harvard Memorial was dedicated in September 1985, to remember those who trained here at No. 31 Service Flying Training School.
Hampton Gray was the last Canadian the be awarded the Victoria Cross, earned while flying as a naval pilot in an attack on Japan.  This stone was dedicated in May 1992.




Marker text:
Harvard plaque:
HARVARD MEMORIAL
This Harvard trainer, symbolic
of wartime activities at No.31
Service Flying Training School
Kingston, was donated by
Dr. and Mrs. Donald V. Nightingale
and was erected by the members
of 416 R.C.A.F. Association.  This
memorial is proudly dedicated to all
who served here in the Air Forces
of the Commonwealth during
World War II.

"THEIR SHOULDERS HELD THE SKY SUSPENDED;
THEY STOOD, AND EARTH'S FOUNDATIONS STAY."
ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN

15 SEPTEEMBER, 1985
 




Hampton Gray plaque:
IN MEMORIAM

LIEUTENANT
ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY V.C., D.S.C.
ROYAL CANADIAN NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE

LIEUT. GRAY TRAINED AS A PILOT
AT THIS AIRFIELD DURING
THE PERIOD JUNE-SEPT. 1941

IN WORLD WAR II LIEUT. GRAY WAS THE
ONLY CANADIAN NAVAL RECIPIENT OF  THE
VICTORIA CROSS
WHICH WAS AWARDED POSTHUMOUSLY
FOR HIS GALLANT AND SUCCESSFUL
ATTACK ON A JAPANESE DESTROYER
ON 9 AUGUST 1945

WE ALSO REMEMBER
THE 23 BRAVE YOUNG MEN OF
THE FLEET AIR ARM FROM
BRITAIN AND THE COMMONWEALTH
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING
FLYING TRAINING AT THIS STATION
DURING WORLD WAR II

CANADIAN NAVAL AIR GROUP
HAMPTON GRAY V.C. CHAPTER
MAY 1992
 











Sunday 17 December 2017

Petawawa - Airborne Monument


 
Location:  Renfrew County     N 45 54.758   W 77 17.370
In CFB Petawawa, at the corner of Menin Road and Montgomery Road.
 
 
This unique memorial is dedicated to the Canadian Airborne Regiment on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary.  Unveiled in August 1988, it originally stood at the entrance to CFB Petawawa, but was moved in May 2008 to its current location at the Garrison Petawawa Military Museum.  The memorial was dedicated to all past and present Canadian operational parachute units, including the 1st Parachute Battalion and the Canada/USA Special Service Force.
The statue is titled "Into Action", and was designed and sculpted by Colonel Andre D. Gauthier (Ret'd) of Orleans, Ontario.  The bronze statue stands 8 feet high.  A separate plaque on an adjacent stone commemorates the memorial.  Sadly, and with poor judgement, the Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded in 1996, although the proud history and traditions live on in the memories of the veterans who bravely served in the regiment.
Take a walk around the grounds of the museum and see many interesting pieces of Canadian military vehicles and aircraft, and visit the museum when its open for a wonderful display of airborne artifacts.



Marker text:
(Airborne crest)

THIS PLAQUE COMMEMORATES
THE SERVICE TO CANADA BY
THE CANADIAN AIRBORNE REGIMENT
1968 - 1995

QUARTERED WITHIN THESE LINES
1977 - 1995

"OBEDIENT TO ORDERS UNTO THE END"
AIRBORNE!

(repeated in French)
 









Saturday 9 December 2017

Streetsville

 

Location:  City of Mississauga     N 43 34.888   W 79 42.733
On Main Street, just east of Queen Street.
 

This memorial was erected in 1926, to honour the men of this village who died in the Great War.  A brass plaque lists the names of those lost men.  An additional plaque was added in 1947 to list the names of the men lost in the Second World War.  The monument was restored in 1993 as it had began to deteriorate around the foundation.  At the time, Streetsville was a small and close-knit village, now part of the larger city of Mississauga it struggles to retain its own identity.  The area surrounding the cenotaph is extremely busy, with outdoor cafes and shops.  A small sign and fence has been erected around the memorial to protect it from patrons who use it a bench while enjoying their beverages or whiling away the time on their cellphones, totally oblivious to the sacrifices made by local men so many years ago.  Sad that a sign must be added to ask people to show respect of this otherwise very attractive memorial.
 
 

Marker text:
Main plaque:
TO THE GREAT WAR
THEY WENT FROM
US - AND FOR US
BUT THEY DID NOT
RETURN - TO US

ERECTED - A.D.M.G
AND IN THEIR
ABIDING MEMORY
BY THE STREETSVILLE
OVERSEAS VETERANS
CLUB.  THROUGH THE
GENEROUS SUPPORT
OF PRESENT AND
FORMER RESIDENTS
OF THIS VILLAGE
AND OTHERS

JULY - MCMXXVI
 


WWI plaque:
1914 - 1918
THEIR NAME LIVETH
FOR EVERMORE

ALEX CARRINGTON
WM. H. CLIPPERTON
G. DAVIS
JAMES DUNN
RALPH EDWARDS
JAMES EGGLESTON
ARTHUR GOULD
FLOYD GRAYDON
GORDON B. KIPP
JOHN MALONE
R. MORTON
W. NOSEWORTHY
HUBERT McCAUGERTY
HARRY SMITH
HAROLD STATIA
WILLIAM STILL
 


WWII plaque:
1939 - 1945
IN MEMORIAM

HOWARD ARTHURS
JOHN FELLOWS
DONALD HAWN
CHARLES HERSOM
ALFRED IVES
KENNETH PARKER
STANLEY PRIMROSE
DAVIS THOMPSON

THEIR NAMES SHALL LIVE FOR EVER
ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS
OF STREETSVILLE AND VICINITY
NOVEMBER 11, 1947
 












Saturday 2 December 2017

Vienna


 
Location:  Elgin County     N 42 40.786   W 80 47.360
On the south side of Plank Road (County Road 19), near Elm Street.
 

This memorial found in Soldiers Memorial Park was erected in 1924 to honour those who served and died in the Great War.   A plaque lists the names of all those who are remembered from this small community.  The original plaque may have come from the local school before being mounted to the current cairn.  The stone cairn may have been erected at this spot in 1949, after World War II, although no names were added of those who served in the Second World War.



Marker text:
Top plaque:
ERECTED IN
HONOUR OF ALL
MEN AND WOMEN
WHO SERVED IN
WORLD WARS I & II

IN GRATEFUL TRIBUTE
TOWARD THE LIVING AND
THE DEAD WHOSE VALIANT
EFFORT AND BITTER
SACRIFICE WAS MADE THAT
FREEDOM AND JUSTICE
SHALL NOT PERISH FROM
THE EARTH.

BE HUMBLE FOR IN THIS
PRESENCE THEY ARE
REMEMBERED.

ERECTED IN 1949

Lower plaque:
1914     1918
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE
EX-PUPILS OF VIENNA SCHOOL AND MEN OF THIS DISTRICT
WHO DIED IN SERVICE IN THE GREAT WAR AND
GRATEFUL TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO SERVED OVER SEAS
AND, DARING TO DIE, SURVIVED.

OUR HONOURED DEAD

FRANK BRINN
EMERSON CAMPBELL
ALBERT EAKINS
ROBERT GRANT
RUSSELL JOHNSON
ROBERT LAUTHERS
CLARKE LOCKER
WALTER MARLATT
CARL MILES
JOHN MURPHY
EDWARD FULHAM

LEST WE FORGET
1924

CHARLES ATKINSON
CHARLES BALDWIN
ALVAR BALCOM
HARVEY BARTLETT
WILLIAM BARTLETT
EDWARD BARTLETT
ALEX CARTER
HAROLD CARTER
ELMAS CHUTE
EMERSON COCHRANE
CHARLES ESSELTINE
ALBERT FERRIS
COLIN FORSYTH
EMERSON GRASS
JOHN GIFFORD
ROY HANNA
EARL HANNA
GEORGE HANEY
ALEX HOWEY
GUY JOHNSON
JAMES KING

WILLIAM LAYCOCK
EDMUND LYMBURNER
OTTO LYMBURNER
HARRY LUTON
GORDON MATTHEWS
NORMAN McGREGOR
GEORGE McLEAN
ARTHUR PACE
ARTHUR PARRY
ALFRED PERCIVAL
HURON SMYTH
WENDELL SOPER
LAWRENCE SOPER
GEORGE STEERS
SELKIRK STILLWELL
WILLIAM STRATTON
JAMES I. STRATTON
GORDON WILLIAMS
GEORGE WOOTON