Selkirk

 

Location:  Haldimand County     N 42.83325   W -79.93432

At the entrance to Selkirk Park, 17 Main Street West.

The small rural community of Selkirk is located two kilometres north of Lake Erie.  A quiet village during the week, but very busy on weekends.  The memorial found here is located on the entrance gates of the town park.  The two pillars that form the gates each have two plaques that tell the story of the founding of the memorial in 1926 by the local Women's Institute and the re-dedication in 1990.  The plaques also list the names of the brave heroes from this community who perished in the World Wars.  As we have seen with most small villages such as Selkirk, the list of names of the dead far exceeds the size of the community, further reinforcing the sacrifice made not only by those who fought for our freedom but for the families left at home to carry on the daily business and farms. 

 

Marker text:

Left Pillar:

Top plaque:

THE SELKIRK WOMEN'S INSTITUTE

STARTED IN FEBRUARY 1902,

SPEARHEADED A FUND TO PAY RESPECT

TO OUR WAR HEROES IN

FEBRUARY OF 1924.  WITH THE HELP OF

THE COMMUNITY THE ORIGINAL GATES

WERE ERECTED IN 1926.  THESE GATES WERE

RE-DEDICATED IN NOVEMBER OF

1990.

Lower plaque:

IN MEMORIAM

THESE GATES HAVE BEEN ERECTED

IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY

OF THE MEN OF SELKIRK AND

COMMUNITY WHO SERVED IN THE

GREAT WAR  1914-1918

"GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS

THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS."

                                                                       JOHN  15-13

 

Right Pillar:

Top plaque:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

F/SGT  EARL CLARENCE BRAY                    PTE  ROY HENRY NELSON

PTE  JOHN WILFRED COLUMBUS                PTE  CHARLES REGINALD RAWCLIFFE

PTE  HAROLD DONALD                                  FO  JAMES REGINALD REBBETOY

PTE  JOHN MALCOLM DONALD                   PTE  ROY JOSEPH SCHAEFFER

PTE  LLOYD WALTER MARR                          STWD  DIRK VAN OOYEN

PTE  EDWARD MCKEEN                                   PTE  FRANK VEENSTRA

PTE  BERKLEY MITCHELL

WHO DIED IN MILITARY SERVICE FOR

CANADA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

1939 - 1945

Lower plaque:

THESE

MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

LIEUT  B. RYAN                                     DVR  H. ABSOLOM

SGT  S. EFFINGER                                 PTE  A. HARE

LCE CORP  ED INGALLS                     PTE  W.E. BROWN

PTE  J.R. TOWNSON                             PTE  A. CARLTON

PTE  W.E. MAXWELL                           PTE  A. DOUGHTY

PTE  L.V. EDSALL                                 PTE H. SHERK

PTE  J. ROBBINS                                   PTE  W.W. CUNNINGHAM

SNIPER  L.H. SIMMS                            PTE  BASIL JONES

                                 PTE  V. MELLON

"THEIR NAMES SHALL LIVE FOR EVERMORE"

Sudbury - WWI Cenotaph

 

Location:  City of Sudbury     N 46.49297   W -81.00083

On the corner of Elm Street and Lorne Street, beside the courthouse.

 

This tall granite memorial was constructed in 1928 to honour those who paid the ultimate price in World War I.  A brass sword adorns the top of the memorial and two plaques reminds of the sacrifices made in that horrendous war.  The sides of the cenotaph list the main battles of the Great War.  At the time of its construction, no one could foresee that we would once again send our best overseas to fight tyranny in only a few short years.  This cenotaph is no longer used for Remembrance Day ceremonies, they now take place at the newer cenotaph in Memorial Park, however the Legion still makes sure to place wreaths here at this historic spot to always remember the fallen.

 

Marker text:

Top plaque:

THEY DIED THE

NOBLEST DEATH THAT

MAN MAY DIE

FIGHTING FOR GOD AND

RIGHT AND LIBERTY

AND SUCH A DEATH IS

IMMORTALITY

 

Bottom plaque:

IN GRATEFUL

REMEMBRANCE OF

OUR

GLORIOUS 

DEAD

"THEY BRACED THEIR BELTS ABOUT THEM

AND CROSSED IN SHIPS, THE SEA.

THEY FOUGHT, AND FOUND SIX FEET OF GROUND

AND DIED FOR YOU AND ME."

 

YPRES      1914 - 1918     MONS

 

Right side:

PASSCHENDAELE

AMIENS

DROCOURT - OUEANT

CAMBRAI

VALENCIENNES

 

Left side:

ST. JULIEN

FESTUBERT

SOMME

VIMY

HILL 70

 

 

 

Vanleek Hill

 

Location:  Prescott and Russell United Counties

 N 45.519667   W -74.650787

 Beside the Post Office, at 35 Main Street East, (County Road 10).

 

The small community of Vanleek Hill in eastern Ontario is known as the Gingerbread Capital of Ontario.  Gingerbread is the woodwork that adds architectural detail to building exteriors and interiors. The porches, windows, gables, and rooflines of over 250 homes in Vankleek Hill contain Victorian era decorative gingerbread elements.  As such, this is an attractive small town with a proud history that includes the loyal service of its citizens during the time of war.  

The cenotaph was originally located in front of the Vanleek Hill Collegiate Institute, but it was recently moved to its current location in the community park beside the post office.  The names of those who gave their lives during the World Wars are listed on this beautiful monument.  The list of names is too long considering the size of this village, a reminder of the sacrifices made by all during the times of world conflict.  A plaque to acknowledge the Korean War was also added recently.  The park is kept in excellent condition, with a small rock fountain and benches provided by the Lions Club.  A steel silhouette of a resting soldier stands guard beside the cenotaph.

Courtesy of the Vanleek Museum, a list of names and bios of some of the fallen from WWI appears at this link:  http://www.vankleek.ca/PDFs/VKHWarMemorialWWICasualties.pdf

Photography by Louise Bellec.

 

 

 

 

Marker text: 

LEST WE FORGET

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF

THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES FROM

VANKLEEK HILL AND DISTRICT WHO

GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR WORLD PEACE

1914 - 1918

BARTON, G.F.

BARTON, O.R.

BERTRAND, J.A.

BRADLEY, W.H.

BROWN, W.

CALVANK, R.

CHRISTIE, D.

CONLON, J.T.

CUNNING, J.F.

CRUMMY, W.

DOWNING, R.L.

DUNNING, G.G.

DUPUIS, M.

EATON, D.

FLYNN, G.

FOUCAULT, J.

HARVEY, N.J.

JOHNSTON, J.M.

KIRBY, J.

LAFLAMME, F.

LAVIOLETTE, M.

LEROY, J.M.

LONSDALE, W.

MacALPINE, F.

MacDONALD, S.

MacLAURIN, H.J.

MacLEOD, K.

MASSIA, R.

McCALLUM, H.R.

McCUAIG, T.R.

MILLER, C.R.

REID, D.P.

ROBERTSON, W.

SAMPLE, T.R.

SEGUIN, V.

SHAW, G.

TAYLOR, D.

WHITE, J.A.

 

1939 - 1945

BERNIQUE, B.

BERTRAND, G.

BICKERSTAFF, L.D.

BROWN, R.E.

CAINS, F.L.

CAMPBELL, D.A.

CHARMAN, E.A.

CHISHOLM, D.F.

CLARK, H.

CONWAY, M.A.

DESJARDINS, F.

HARTRICK, N.

HUDSON, R.W.

HURLEY, A.

JOHNSTON, L.

MacDONALD, A.B.

MacINTOSH, A.V.

MacKINNON, M.C.

MacNEIL, D.G.

McCALLUM, D.H.

McDUFF, E.

McINTYRE, H.B.

McINTOSH, S.

McLEOD, M.

McCONNACHIE, W.J.

MILNER, E.J.

MILNER, E.P.

MILNER, G.B.

MIRON, J.A.

NORMAN, J.

RENWICK, A.H.

ROBERTSON, J.

SABOURIN, J.P.

SLOAN, P.

SPROULE, E.

WALSH, C.

WILLIAMS, P.

WILSON, C.

WILSON, D.W.

WILSON, L.G.

YOUNG. D.

 

 

Plaque top right:

KOREA

1950 - 1953

 

 

Toronto - Northwest Rebellion Monument

 

 

Location:  City of Toronto     N 43.66175   W -79.38991

On the grounds of Queen's Park, 11 Queen's Park Circle East.

 

The following is borrowed from  www.veterans.gc.ca.

"In 1894, at age nineteen and having only minimal training as a sculptor, Walter S. Allward won a competition to design a bronze statue of Peace for the Northwest Rebellion Monument in Toronto. The monument had been proposed by a group of Toronto women who began raising funds in the early 1890s. In 1894, the committee hired Toronto based D. McIntosh & Sons to provide a pedestal and to supervise Allward’s progress. The pedestal, designed by McIntosh employee James Wilson Gray, is made of grey granite, twenty feet high, and ornamented with the insignia of the various regiments that took part in the Northwest Resistance. 

Allward’s lack of experience meant that he worked slowly, which resulted in complaints from his employer, who had provided money in advance for his studio and tools. Confident in his artistic abilities, Allward threatened to destroy the sculpture if the company continued to exert pressure. The McIntosh representative relented, but when Allward arrived at the site the next morning a guard was stationed beside the figure, an arrangement that continued until he completed the sculpture.

Allward worked on the sculpture throughout 1895 in his studio at the Imperial Chambers Building on Adelaide Street in Toronto, completing a clay model in time for a public showing in January 1896. The bronze casting of the final model was done at the foundry of Bureau Brothers in Philadelphia.

Designed according to the then popular Beaux-Arts style, the monument has a single figure on a pedestal within a pyramidal composition. The statue portrays Peace as an idealized female figure in a static pose, with a full-length robe falling loosely from her shoulders. Her right hand holds an olive branch and her left hand is raised in a gesture commanding silence. The sword at her side represents the power of Canada at rest. The sculpture, Allward’s earliest professional commission, was his first to focus on peace, a theme he would return to throughout his career.

The unveiling on June 27, 1896, featured a military parade and speeches by officials from various levels of government, including the Honourable Sir George Airey Kirkpatrick, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and Mayor Robert John Fleming. The monument honours soldiers and volunteers who died during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, when the Canadian government sent troops to suppress an uprising led by the Métis leader Louis Riel. Allward attended the unveiling and when the crowd called out for him to speak, he responded with a modesty that became one of his hallmarks: “I thank you for your appreciation of my work. It is not what it might have been, but it was the best I could do. Probably I will do better next time.”

A plaque, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the rebellion, was added in 1935.

The Northwest Rebellion Monument deals with a battle that took place at the height of the government’s attempts to control Indigenous communities and does not acknowledge the Indigenous lives lost or the trial and subsequent death of Riel. The monument has become re-appropriated and given different meaning by Métis and Indigenous groups. It has served as a meeting place and the anniversary of Riel’s death has been commemorated here with Indigenous ceremonies and events."

 

 

Marker text:

Front:

ERECTED
TO THE MEMORY OF THE
OFFICERS AND MEN
WHO FELL
ON THE BATTLEFIELDS
OF THE NORTH-WEST
IN 1885.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST
PRO PATRIA MORI.

 

 

 

 

Right side:

KILLED IN ACTION

PRINCE ALBT. VOLUNTEERS	CAPT.	JOHN MORTON
"                "                "	CORPORAL	W. NAPIER
"                "                "	PRIVATE	S.C. ELLIOT
"                "                "	"	D. McPHAIL
"                "                "	"	D. McKENZIE
"                "                "	"	J. BAKIE
"                "                "	"	R. MIDDLETON
"                "                "	"	J. ANDERSON
"                "                "	"	A. FISHER

DIED OF WOUNDS

ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY	GUNNER	ARMSWORTH
"                "                "	"	CHARPANTIER
INFANTRY SCHOOL CORPS	PRIVATE	WATSON
10TH ROYAL GRENADIERS	"	ISAAC HUGHES
90TH BATTL. RIFLES	LIEUT.	SWINFORD
"                "                "	CORPORAL	CODE
"                "                "	PRIVATE	F.A. WATSON
BOUTLON'S SCOUTS	TROOPER	D'ARCY BAKER
N. W. M. POLICE	CORPORAL	LOWRY
"    "    "          "	CONSTABLE	ARNOLD
"    "    "          "	"	GARRETT
"    "    "          "	"	BURKE

CUT KNIFE

 

 

 

Back:

YORK
&
SIMCOE

 

1885 — 1935

50 YEARS AFTER
THE SURVIVING MEMBERS
OF THE
NORTH-WEST FIELD FORCE 1885
GATHERED IN JUBLIEE RE-UNION
AT TORONTO
JULY 26TH 27TH & 28TH
— 1935 —

"THEY DID NOT FORGET"

 

DUCK LAKE

FISH CREEK

 

 

 

 

Left side:

KILLED IN ACTION

ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY	GUNNER	DE MANOLLY
"                "                "	"	COOK
"                "                "	"	PHILLIPS
INFANTRY SCHOOL CORPS	BUGLER	FOULKES
GOV GENERAL'S FOOT GUARDS	PRIVATE	OSGOODE
"            "             "         "	"	ROGERS
10TH ROYAL GRENADIERS	LIEUT	FITCH
"                "                "	PRIVATE	MOORE
90TH BATTLE RIFLES	"	FERGUSON
"                "                "	"	HUTCHINSON
"                "                "	"	WHEELER
"                "                "	"	ENNIS
"                "                "	"	KARDISTY
"                "                "	"	FRASER
BOUTLON'S SCOUTS	CAPTAIN	BROWN
FRENCH'S          "	"	FRENCH
INTELLIGENCE CORPS	LIEUT	KIPPEN
N. W. M. POLICE	CORPORAL	SLEIGH
"    "    "          "	CONSTABLE	COWAN
"    "    "          "	"	GIBSON
"    "    "          "	"	ELLIOTT
BATTELFORD RIFLES	PRIVATE	DOBS

BATOCHE