Aurora

 

Location:  York Region   N 43° 59.126 W 079° 27.804  
On the east side of Yonge Street, just north of Allaura Blvd.

Happy Canada Day!
Aurora was once proudly known as Canada's Birthday Town, with a large parade and seemingly never-ending activities.  Sadly that has all been lost in the name of poor politics.  This is also my home cenotaph, where I can usually be found on Remembrance Day, standing in the shadows with my thoughts of those who served, sacrificed, and serve today. 

The memorial tower was first unveiled in 1925, to honour the names of the 77 local men who gave their lives in The Great War.  The bronze lantern at the top of the tower burns continuously, seventy-three feet above the ground.  The "Altar of Sacrifice" was added in 1960 to salute the 55 names of the heroes from the Second World War.  The entire park was once again re-dedicated as the Aurora Memorial Peace Park in 1992, part of the celebrations of Canada's 125th anniversary.

Marker text:
Tower front:
1914 - 1918
TO THE HONOURED MEMORY OF
THE MEN OF THE TOWN OF AURORA 
AND TOWNSHIPS OF KING AND WHITCHURCH
WHO DIED IN THE GREAT WAR
AND IN GRATEFUL TRIBUTE TO
ALL WHO SHARED ITS DANGERS

G. Alexander
Henry H. Allen
James A. Amos
Herman C. Brown
Stanley G. Brown
Kenneth L. T. Campbell, M. C.
Thos. Crosskill
A. Ernest Davis
W. Kenneth Exley
Walter Harris
R. Ross Hartman
Heber Higgs
R. Stuart Hillary
R. Hollingshead
Elwood Lloyd
Fred Luxton
E. Harold Mulloy
Ernest Rose
Wilfred F. Petermann, M.C.
Chas. W. Smith
Wm. Stewart Stiles
Harry Stone
Fred H. B. Wilkinson
James Albert Proctor
Sherman Brown
Harold Brown
Russell Clift
Max Doyle
Wilfred Doyle
Ed Douglass
John Ferguson
Leonard Ferguson
Gilbert A. Gray
Roy Harper
C. W. Jones
Thos. Geo. Howard
Telford Little
Thos. McMaster
Wallace Merchant
Aubrey M. Marshall
Russell Parker
Jno. R. Routledge
Harry Stewart
Roy Stocks
Wm. Walker, M. C.
Townley Watson
Chas. Woodroof
Wm. Chamberlain
James Allen
Harold R. Baber
Alex H. Brodie
Angus Collingwood
Albert Cousins
Lewis Craigie
Wm. Craigie
Stafford Forester
R. Chas. Harman
Lewis A. Hawtin
John E. Hill
A. Lorne Hill
Robt. C. Hollidge,D.C.M., M.M.
Lewis E. Honey
Thos. A. Kidd
J. Walter Monkman
Harry H. Penrose
Percy Pointon
Harold B. Steckley
Roy C. Steckley
J. Herbert Wallwark
Garnet Willis

THEIR NAME
LIVETH FOR
EVERMORE

Tower Left:
YPRES
ST. JULIEN
FESTUBERT
GIVENCHY
MOUNT SORREL
ST. ELOI
SOMME
FLERS-
COURCELETTE
ARRRAS

Tower Right:
PASSCHENDAELE
VIMY RIDGE
HILL 70
AMIENS
CANAL DUNORD
DROCOURT-
OUEANT
VALENCIENNES
MONS


ALTAR OF SACRIFICE
Front:
1939 + ALTAR OF SACRIFICE + 1945
 ASH, J. RANKIN
BENJAMIN, ROY E.
BENVILLE, LAWRENCE J.
BOWLER, WILLIAM
BRADBURY, JOHN
BROWN, WILLIAM D.
BURGON, PERCY
CHADBURN, LLOYD V.
DSO/BAR CHEVALIER
LEGION OF HONOUR
CROIX DE GUERRE,
D. F. C.
CHADWICK, ALBERT
COX, G. D.
CROSSLEY, WILLIAM
CUTLER, ERIC E.
DALTON, A. B. CLIFFORD
DAVIDSON, JOHN A.
DAVIS, GEORGE
DAWSON, ANGUS
DAWSON, CHARLES
DOVE, WALTER
DUGGAN, THOMAS A.
EDWARDS, MASON A.
FIFE, FRED
FOLLIOTT, ERIC
GITTINS, ROBERT B.
GLEAVE, DONALD R.
HAYES, DENNIS
HEANEY, WESLEY
HEATH, WILLIAM
HOWARD, BURTON
JOHNSON, FRANK
JONES, HENRY C.
KAY, HARRY L.
KING, PERRY
KING, WILLIAM D.
MCBRIDE, WARREN
MCKENZIE, DOUGLAS
MORNING ORLIE
MUGFORD, WILLIAM
PAGAN, WILLIAM D.
PRIMEAU, JOSEPH P.
ROBSON, MELVIN P. F.
RUMBLE, ROBERT
RUTHERFORD, ROSS S.
SNEDDEN, ANDREW
SNIVELY, DOUGLAS S.
STEPHENSON, WESLEY, MM
STILES, BRUCE
STYLES, FREDERICK L.
THOMPSON, DONALD H.
TRANMER, WILLIAM T.
TURP, ROBERT J.
WADE, REGINALD
WALKER, GORDON V.
WILLIAMSON, H. WARD
WINN, ELMER S.
WYATT, ALAN A.

Left:
THE GOTHIC LINE
THE INVASION, D DAY
CAEN
THE FALAISE GAP
NIJMEGEN
THE WALCHERN ISLANDS
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
THE SIEGFRIED LINE
THE RHINE CROSSING

Right:
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
THE MURMANSK ROUTE
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
HONG KONG
DIEPPE
SICILY
SALERNO
ANZIO
MONTE CASSINO

Rear:
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE MEN OF
AURORA, KING AND WHITCHURCH, WHO GAVE
THEIR LIVES IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND
ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THESE TOWN-
SHIPS ON THE ELEVENTH OF NOVEMBER 1960