Oil Springs

 
Location:  Lambton County     N 42 47.027   W-82.07.308
On the southeast corner of Oil Springs Line and Elizabeth Street.

Oil Springs is home to the first oil discovery and the first commercial oil well in North America, when in 1858 two local men made the find while searching the local swamp for a gooey waterproofing material.  The rest is history as they say, and the village of Oil Springs was born.  Home to the the Oil Museum of Canada, this sleepy little town was once the hub of the oil industry. 

The cenotaph was erected in 1919 on the former site of the village's largest hotel, Sherman House.  The names engraved on the memorial are from the men who gave their lives in the World Wars.  Also listed on the side is the name of young man lost in the South African War.  A unique statue is carved into the front of the memorial, presumably to depict one of the fallen sons. The names of the major battles of WWI are also carved into the base of the statue.  The memorial represents the village of Oil Springs and the township of Enniskillen.  Situated in a quiet parkette, along with a pair of benches, this is a nice place to reflect and remember the sacrifices of the past, and the incredible history of this village.




Marker text:
Front:
FETTERS SUNDERED
FOR LIBERTY & PEACE
1914     1918


HARRY BARRY
EDWARD BROOKS
ISAAC BENNETT
HOWARD WARD
ERNEST EDGAR EVANS
R.J. ANDERSON

JOHN WILSON
HAROLD C. WILLOUGHBY
HARRY ROBERTSON
ORTON (JACK) GRIFFIN
ADAM P. CHALMERS  M.D.
EDWARD KERR
WALTER F. DUGGAN
WM. GEORGE PENFOUND
WILLIAM DUNCAN
ODEIL DEPORTER
JAMES L. PENROSE


ERECTED TO COMMEMORATE
THE SERVICE AND SACRIFICE
OF THE MEN FROM THE VILLAGE
OF OIL SPRINGS AND THE
TOWNSHIP OF ENNISKILLEN
WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR
1914-----1918


TO HONOUR ALL
WHO SERVED
CANADA
EN HOMMAGE
A CEUX ET CELLES
QUI ONT SERVI
 
 

Around base:
COURCELETTE
VALENCIENNES
VIMY RIDGE
SOMME
MONS
LENS


Left side:
S. AFRICA   1899---1902
WM. HENRY ARTHUR

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.