Ontario War Memorials: Berwick

Friday, 6 November 2020

Berwick

Location: United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry

N 45.17574 W -75.10940

At the north-west corner of Cockburn Street (Cty. Rd. 12) and Union Street (Cty. Rd. 9)

This memorial represents the community of Finch Township and pays tribute to the local heroes lost in the World Wars. A second memorial sits beside this cenotaph, dedicated to the memory of St. Paul's United Church.

The cenotaph was originally erected in 1935 with the names of those who died in WWI engraved in stone. In 1947, an additional stone plaque was added to honour those lost in WWII. The Berwick Women's Institute was largely responsible for creation of the memorial, although almost everyone in town helped out in some way. Unfortunately, the cobblestone cairn was situated very close to the busy corner of the roadway, so the decision was made in 1986 to erect the new cenotaph across the road in its present home. The two plaques with the names of those lost in the wars were removed from the original memorial and use in the new cenotaph.

A full description of the history of the memorial can be found on the Veterans Affairs website: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/national-inventory-canadian-memorials/details/5383

At the bottom of the page, the last few photos are from the Cornwall Museum, they show the original cobblestone memorial from 1935.

**Thank you to fellow researchers Louise Bellec and Christine Arbic for providing photos and details of this memorial. As you can see from the list of names, Christine has a personal connection to this cenotaph. Lest We Forget.