Elgin

 
Location:  Leeds and Grenville United Counties 
N 44.608018   W 76.222263
At the corner of Perth Street and Main Street, beside the old church.
 
This memorial sits on the grounds of the former St. Paul's Anglican Church, now a private residence.  The village of Elgin was first established in the 1840's by Mormon pioneers from the United States.  In 1850, a post office was opened here and the community was named after the eighth Earl of Elgin, James Bruce, Governor General of Canada from 1847 to 1854.   Elgin grew into a thriving centre for local farmers and for tourists who come to enjoy the surrounding Rideau Lakes.

The memorial is a ten foot tall stone cairn with two plaques that pay tribute to those who gave their lives in the World Wars and Korea.  A tall flag pole stands behind the cairn.

*Thanks again to Louise Bellec for providing the photos.

 



 
Marker text:

Top Plaque:                          IN MEMORY OF THE SOLDIERS

                                               OF ELGIN AND DISTRICT

                                               WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES

                                               IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 -18

                                              THEIR NAMES LIVE FOR EVER MORE

Bottom Plaque:                   IN MEMORY OF THE SOLDIERS

                                               OF ELGIN AND DISTRICT WHO

                                                    GAVE THEIR LIVES IN

                                                  WORLD WAR II  1939-45

                                                           KOREA 1950 - 53

Guelph - John McCrae Statue

 
Location:  Wellington County     N 43.543536    W -80.251507
Beside the Guelph Civic Museum, 52 Norfolk Street.
 

This sculpture is located at the Guelph Civic Museum, in the city of Guelph, Ontario, where John McCrae was born. The sculpture resembles Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, with his dress as an Artillery officer and his medical bag nearby, as he writes. The statue shows the destruction of the battlefield and, at his feet, the poppies which are a symbol of Remembrance of the First World War and all armed conflict since.
The statue was promoted by the McCrae Statue Committee fundraising chair Lt.-Col. (Ret.) Michael McKay and former Navy veteran Bill Winegard, and produced by the Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy.

Lt.-Col. John McCrae, one of the important sons of the city of Guelph, born in 1872, was raised in Guelph, and his limestone cottage on Guelph’s Water Street is home to the McCrae House Museum, a part of Guelph Museums, comprising the Guelph Civic Museum. Guelph’s 11^th Field Artillery Regiment was once commanded by Capt. David McCrae, John McCrae’s father. Members of this regiment have served since the last world war in various roles, primarily peacekeeping efforts internationally. John McCrae succumbed to complications of pneumonia and meningitis in 1918.
* http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/national-inventory-canadian-memorials/details/9204

At the time of my visit the facade of the museum was under construction.  No additional signage or inscription was found in the vicinity of the statue, save for the famous poem "In Flanders Fields" etched into the statue itself.  A very moving statue and tribute to the man who gave us this solemn poem, before his death in the Great War.

 

Waterloo - Canadian Veterans Memorial

 
 
Location:  Waterloo Region     N 43.47543   W -80.52773
In Veterans' Green Park, 50 University Avenue West.
 

One of the most visually stunning memorials I have ever seen.  Much more impressive in person than as seen in my photos.  The memorial is dedicated to all of Canada's Veteran of all wars.  The sculptor,  Timothy P. Schmaltz, depicts a long line of veterans leading down from the heavens to support the old veteran at the front of the statue, all leaning on one another and showing the toils of war.  A reminder that while we mourn the loss of all those who died for the cause, there were also many who returned, battered and broken, who needed much care, the survivors of war still had to survive their future lives.  A very moving piece of artwork, unveiled in November 2006, in part by the K-W Naval Association Charitable Trust Fund.
The Veterans Green park pays tribute to the returning veterans from previous wars and the struggle to care and house the vets after their turmoils in the World Wars.  Several plaques tell the story of how the city of Waterloo helped to house the returning heroes in their community.
 




Marker text:
Front:
From distant eternity
They come back from wars
Fought in each century
To present their brother
The survivor
Who holds a poppy
A challenge to remember.

Timothy P. Schmaltz.