Canadian war memorials

Ceremonial Guard stand watch over Canada's national memorial, The Response, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the foreground.

The history of Canada comprises hundreds of years of armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Canada, and the role of the Canadian military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. Many of these armed engagements are commemorated today with memorials across Canada and around the world. Canadian memorials commemorate the sacrifices made as early as the Seven Years' War to the modern day War on Terror. As Newfoundland was a British Dominion until joining in 1949, there are several monuments in Newfoundland and Labrador and abroad which were dedicated to Newfoundland servicemen and women.

There are currently 6,293 war memorials in Canada that are registered with the Directorate of History and Heritage, which is under the Canadian Department of National Defence. There are also war memorials across the world, some of which are operated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which are dedicated to Canada as well as the Commonwealth members. There currently are 17 in France, 6 in Belgium, 4 in the United Kingdom, 2 in Afghanistan and South Korea and 1 in Egypt, Hong Kong, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

War memorials in Canada

Memorial name	Image	Location	Notes
Calgary Soldiers' Memorial		Calgary, Alberta	Dedicated to Calgarian soldiers who have given their lives in war and military service overseas.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier		Ottawa, Ontario	Dedicated to all the unidentified Canadian soldiers and is part of the National War Memorial.
Cenotaph, Bruce Park		Winnipeg, Manitoba	Dedicated to the memory of those who died in the First World War, the Second World War, Korea, and to Canadian peacekeepers.
Cenotaph, Flesherton		Flesherton, Ontario	Honouring the local men who enlisted for the First and Second World Wars and did not return.
Cenotaph, London		London, Ontario	Commemorates the local soldiers who died during the First, the Second and the Korean Wars.
Cenotaph, Regina		Regina, Saskatchewan	Honour those Regina citizens who served in the First, the Second and the Korean Wars.
Cenotaph, Thunder Bay		Thunder Bay, Ontario	Commemorates the local soldiers who died during the First, the Second and the Korean Wars.
Memorial Chamber		Ottawa, Ontario	Located in the Peace Tower, it holds all seven volumes of the Books of Remembrance, recording every Canadian killed in service, from Canada's first oversea campaign, the Nile Expedition, to the present.
War Memorial (1926)		Shaunavon, Saskatchewan	Designed by Francis Henry Portnall (architect) to honour those citizens who served in the War
National Aboriginal Veterans Monument		Ottawa, Ontario	Commemorates the Aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) who served with the Canadian forces during armed conflicts.
'The Response' - the Canadian National War Memorial		Ottawa, Ontario	Commemorates the Canadian participation and its soldiers fallen in armed conflict.
Next of Kin Memorial Avenue		Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Memorial for the First World War and ensuing wars.
Old City Hall Cenotaph		Toronto, Ontario	Dedicated to Torontonians who lost their lives during the First World War, Second World War and the Korean War.
Ontario Veterans Memorial		Toronto, Ontario	Dedicated to the Canadian military who served from the Fenian raids to the Campaign Against Terror.
Oshawa War Memorial		Oshawa, Ontario	Second World War and the Korean War
Peacekeeping Monument		Ottawa, Ontario	Commemorates Canadian soldiers who served, or are currently serving in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
Per ardua ad astra		Toronto, Ontario	Dedicated to Canadian airmen who fought.
Royal Canadian Navy Monument		Ottawa, Ontario	Commemorates the men and women who have served or are serving with the Royal Canadian Navy.
Valiants Memorial		Ottawa, Ontario	Commemorating fourteen signal figures from the military history of the country, from French colonial rule, to the Second World War.
Welland-Crowland War Memorial		Welland, Ontario	Designed by Elizabeth Wyn Wood, commemorates not only the war dead but also those whom served at home.

Colonial period

Memorial name	Image	Location	Notes
48th Highlanders Memorial		Toronto, Ontario	Dedicated to those who served with the Canadian forces, erected by the 48th Highlanders of Canada.
Brock's Monument		Queenston, Ontario	Dedicated to Major General Isaac Brock, one of Canada's heroes of the War of 1812.
Canadian Volunteer Monument		Toronto, Ontario	Honours University of Toronto student volunteers who fell during the Battle of Ridgeway Lime Ridge, or died of wounds received in action or from disease contracted in service while defending her frontier in June 1866.
Central Memorial Park		Calgary, Alberta	The park has a cenotaph, a statue of a First World War soldier and a statute of R.L. Boyle, which is dedicated to all Albertans who served during the Second Boer War.
Victoria Memorial		Toronto, Ontario	In memory of officers, non-commissioned officers and men who were killed or died of wounds defending York (present-day Toronto).
James Wolfe Monument		Quebec City, Quebec	Dedicated to General James Wolfe, remembered chiefly for his victory over the French, and establishing British rule in Canada.
Monument to the War of 1812		Toronto, Ontario	Monument to the Canadian participation in the War of 1812
North-West Rebellion Monument		Toronto, Ontario	Dedicated to those who served with the Canadian army during the North-West Rebellion.
South African War Memorial		Toronto, Ontario	Commemorates the Canadian participation in the Boer War.
South African War Memorial at Confederation Park		Ottawa, Ontario	Commemorates the Canadian participation in the Boer War.
Stoney Creek Battlefield Memorial		Hamilton, Ontario	Commemorates the victory at the Battle of Stoney Creek
Welsford-Parker Monument		Halifax, Nova Scotia	Dedicated to Major Augustus F. Welsford and Captain William B.C.A. Parker, who died during the Crimean War

First World War and Second World War

Memorial name	Image	Location	Notes
Camp X Memorial		Whitby Ontario	Honours the men and women of Camp X who served during the Second World War.
Halifax Memorial		Halifax, Nova Scotia	Dedicated to the Canadian servicemen and women who died at sea during both World Wars and includes the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Merchant Navy and the Canadian Army.
Memorial Gates		Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Military memorial which is a part of the University of Saskatchewan.
War Memorial Cenotaph (1928),		Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Designed by Francis Henry Portnall (architect), this tall granite plinth incorporating a public clock face is a part of the City Hall Square
Vimy Memorial Bandshell (1937)		Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	The Vimy Memorial Bandshell in Kiwanis Park was built in 1937 to honour the men and women that served in the First World War at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Memorial Clock Tower		Wainwright, Alberta	Dedicated to the local men who fought and died in both World Wars.
War Memorial of Montreal West		Montreal, Quebec	Honours those from the town of Montreal West who died in the First World War
Montreal Clock Tower		Montreal, Quebec	Dedicated to Canadian naval sailors who died during the First World War.
Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Memorial		Victoria, British Columbia	Dedicated to Canadian volunteers of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion during the Spanish Civil War.
Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Memorial		Ottawa, Ontario	Dedicated to Canadian volunteers of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion during the Spanish Civil War.
National War Memorial		St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	Memorial for soldiers who served with the Dominion of Newfoundland during the First World War.
Ottawa Memorial		Ottawa, Ontario	Dedicated to missing airmen of the Second World War. Sometimes known as the Commonwealth Air Force Monument.
Soldiers' Tower		Toronto, Ontario	Commemorates members of the University of Toronto who served in the World Wars.
Victory Square		Vancouver, British Columbia	Dedicated to Vancouverites who served in the First World War.
Cenotaph, Montreal		Montreal, Quebec	Dedicated to Montrealers who died in the First World War.
Sherbrooke War Memorial		Sherbrooke, Quebec	Dedicated to citizens of Sherbrooke who fought in the First World War
Ashburnham Memorial Park		Peterborough, Ontario	Memorial to the men of Peterborough who died in the First World War.
Great War Memorial		Niagara Falls, Ontario	Memorial to those who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Bronze Angel		Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia (Pictured); Winnipeg, Manitoba	"Bronze Angel", by sculptor, Coeur Lion MacCarthy, war memorial depicts the angel of victory raising up a young soldier to heaven at the moment of his death, 1921 commemorates 1,115 Canadian Pacific Railway employees killed during the First World War erected at the Canadian Pacific Railway stations.
Cremation Memorial		Ottawa, Ontario	A sheltered space in the National Cemetery of Canada that honours the memory of Canadian servicemen who died in Canada and the United States and who were cremated.
Animals At War Memorial / Les animaux en temps de guerre		Confederation Park, Ottawa, Ontario	A memorial by David Clendining to animals (mainly mules, horse, dogs, pigeons) that have served for Canada in military conflicts since World War I
Scarborough War Memorial		Toronto, Ontario	Commemorating the soldiers from Scarborough whom died in World War I, World War II and Korean War.

1945 - present

Memorial name	Image	Location	Notes
Korean War Memorial Wall		Brampton, Ontario	Commemorates those Canadians who served in the Korean War.
The North Wall		Windsor, Ontario	Dedicated to Canadians who volunteered with the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War.

War memorials overseas

Memorial name	Image	Location	Notes
Canada Memorial		Green Park, London, England	Pays tribute to the nearly one million Canadian men and women who served in the United Kingdom during the First and Second World Wars.

First World War

Memorial name	Image	Location	Notes
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial	File:Beaumont hamel newfoundland memorial.jpg	Beaumont-Hamel, Somme, France	Commemorating the Royal Newfoundland Regiment's participation in the Battle of the Somme.
Bourlon Wood Memorial		Bourlon, France	Commemorates the participation of Canadian soldiers and memorial for Canadian soldiers who died during the First World War.
Canadian National Vimy Memorial	File:Vimy Memorial From the Front (cropped & balanced).jpg	Givenchy-en-Gohelle, France	Commemorating the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Courcelette Memorial		Courcelette, France	Commemorating the Canadian participation in the Battle of the Somme.
Dury Memorial		Dury, France	Commemorating the breaking of the Drocourt-Quéant Line.
Gueudecourt Memorial		Gueudecourt, France	Dedicated to the Newfoundlanders who fought during the Battle of Le Transloy.
Hill 62 (Sanctuary Wood) Memorial		Zonnebeke, Belgium	Commemorating the defence of the Ypres Salient.
Le Quesnel Memorial		Le Quesnel, France	Commemorating the Canadian participation in the Battle of Amiens.
Masnières Newfoundland Memorial		Masnières, France	Commemorates the actions of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during the First Battle of Cambrai, of World War I.
Menin Gate		Ypres, Belgium	Commemorating the defenders that died in the Ypres Salient and whose graves are unknown.
Monchy-le-Preux Memorial		Monchy-le-Preux, France	Commemorates the Royal Newfoundland's participation during the Battle of Arras.
Passchendaele Memorial		Passendale, Belgium	Commemorating the Battle of Passchendaele.
Saint Julien Memorial		Ypres, Belgium	Commemorating the Canadian participation in the Second Battle of Ypres.

Second World War – present

Memorial name	Image	Location	Notes
The Brookwood Memorial		Brookwood, Surrey, England	The memorial stands at the southern end of the Canadian section of the cemetery and commemorates 3,500 Commonwealth men and women who died during the Second World War and have no known grave.
Camp Mirage Memorial		Al Minhad Air Base, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Commemorates all the Canadian dead in Afghanistan.
Gapyeong Canada Monument		Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea	Dedicated to the sacrifices made by the Canadian forces during the Korean war, especially at the Battle of Kapyong.
Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery		Groesbeek, Netherlands	Cemetery for the dead from the Second World War.
Kandahar Airfield Memorial and Memorial Inuksuk		Kandahar, Afghanistan	The Airfield Memorial is dedicated to Canadians who have fallen in the War in Afghanistan and the Inuksuk to those Canadians, as well as other coalition members who were killed in fighting in Afghanistan.
Malta Memorial		Triton Fountain, Valletta, Malta	Dedicated to Commonwealth aircrew (including Canadians) who fought, and lost their lives, in the Mediterranean during the Second World War.

Legacy

The 31 paintings of Canadian War Memorials by F.A. (Tex) Dawson were unveiled just outside Currie Hall in the Mackenzie Building at Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario on Wednesday 7 April 2010. Jack Pike, the chairman of the Royal Military College of Canada Museum's board of directors, said they had found a permanent and appropriate home. "We are delighted to have these paintings," he said in front of the assemblage of paintings, each representing a different memorial in a different setting and different seasons. "These are symbolic of sacrifice and remembrance and they do the whole thing so well."

See also

• Canadian War Museum
• List of Canadian Victoria Cross recipients
• List of Royal Military College of Canada Memorials and traditions
• List of conflicts in Canada
• Military history of Canada

Mapping

:1.^ Memorial Chamber, 45°25′29.64″N 075°41′59.64″W
:2.^ National Aboriginal Veterans Monument, 45°25′18.04″N 075°41′34.66″W
:3.^ 'The Response' - the Canadian National War Memorial, 45°25′26.53″N 075°41′43.79″W
:4.^ Next of Kin Memorial Avenue, 52°08′49.36″N 106°39′29.27″W
:5.^ Old City Hall Cenotaph, 43°39′07.70″N 079°22′54.21″W
:6.^ Ontario Veterans Memorial, 43°39′40.63″N 079°23′28.04″W
:7.^ Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 45°25′26.53″N 075°41′43.79″W
:8.^ Calgary Soldiers' Memorial, 51°03′03″N 114°05′20″W
:9.^ Peacekeeping Monument, 45°25′43.58″N 075°41′47.49″W
:10.^ Valiants Memorial, 45°25′27.92″N 075°41′42.67″W
:11.^ Bruce Park Cenotaph, 49°52′38.77″N 097°13′34.10″W
:12.^ Cenotaph, Flesherton, Ontario, 44°15′46.7″N 080°33′05.5″W
:13.^ Cenotaph, Regina, 50°26′52.88″N 104°36′44.18″W
:14.^ Port Arthur Cenotaph, 48°26′15.9″N 089°13′34.88″W
:15.^ London Cenotaph, 42°59′15.66″N 081°14′48.54″W
:16.^ Welland-Crowland War Memorial, 42°59′51″N 079°15′31″W
:17.^ Brock's Monument, 43°09′36.37″N 079°03′10.99″W
:18.^ Canadian Volunteer Monument, 43°39′45.55″N 079°23′36.01″W
:19.^ Central Memorial Park, 51°02′28.48″N 114°04′16.00″W
:20.^ James Wolfe Monument, 46°47′59.81″N 071°13′29.79″W
:21.^ North-West Rebellion Monument, 43°39′42.10″N 079°23′24.23″W
:22.^ South African War Memorial, 43°39′04.72″N 079°23′12.49″W
:23.^ Camp X Memorial, 43°51′20.28″N 078°53′00.06″W
:24.^ Halifax Memorial, 44°37′08.76″N 063°33′55.93″W
:25.^ Memorial Gates, 52°07′45.43″N 106°38′34.05″W
:26.^ Memorial Clock Tower, 52°50′00.66″N 110°51′39.76″W
:27.^ War Memorial of Montreal West, 45°28′21.00″N 073°36′49.32″W
:28.^ Montreal Clock Tower, 45°30′44.44″N 073°32′44.84″W
:29.^ Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Memorial, Victoria, 48°25′14.20″N 123°22′16.66″W
:30.^ Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Memorial, Ottawa, 45°26′24.61″N 075°41′47.05″W

:31.^ National War Memorial, 47°34′03.28″N 052°42′13.67″W
:32.^ Ottawa Memorial, 45°26′27.08″N 075°41′45.90″W
:33.^ Soldiers' Tower, 43°39′48.78″N 079°23′42.52″W
:34.^ Victory Square, 49°16′55.56″N 123°06′36.72″W
:35.^ Cenotaph, Montreal, 45°29′55.03″N 073°34′07.75″W
:36.^ Sherbrooke War Memorial, 45°24′02″N 071°53′29″W
:37.^ Ashburnham Memorial Park, 44°18′36″N 078°18′10″W
:38.^ Great War Memorial, 43°05′23.81″N 079°04′22.57″W
:39.^ Cremation Memorial, 45°26′42″N 075°39′57″W
:40.^ Korean War Memorial Wall, 43°38′30.58″N 079°44′57.01″W
:41.^ The North Wall, 42°18′37.36″N 083°04′11.06″W
:42.^ Canada Gate and Canada Memorial, 51°30′10.36″N 000°08′33.48″W
:43.^ Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, 51°47′53.92″N 5°55′54.76″E
:44.^ Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, 50°04′24.80″N 002°38′53.09″E
:45.^ Bourlon Wood Memorial, 50°10′24.51″N 003°07′09.14″E
:46.^ Canadian National Vimy Memorial, 50°22′46.55″N 002°46′26.36″E
:47.^ Courcelette Memorial, 50°03′15.12″N 002°45′05.19″E
:48.^ Dury Memorial, 50°14′02.90″N 002°59′50.12″E
:49.^ Gueudecourt Memorial, 50°03′54.31″N 002°51′13.24″E
:50.^ Hill 62 Memorial, 50°50′03.79″N 002°56′50.08″E
:51.^ Le Quesnel Memorial, 49°46′29.96″N 002°36′33.85″E
:52.^ Menin Gate, 50°51′07.41″N 002°53′28.55″E
:53.^ Monchy-le-Preux Memorial, 50°16′14.17″N 002°53′35.95″E
:54.^ Passchendaele Memorial, 50°53′51.89″N 003°00′47.63″E
:55.^ Saint Julien Memorial, 50°53′58.65″N 002°56′26.41″E
:56.^ The Brookwood Memorial, 51°18′01″N 000°38′27.39″W
:57.^ Camp Mirage Memorial, 25°01′37″N 055°22′15″E
:58.^ Gapyeong Canada Monument, 37°52′36.71″N 127°31′48.79″E
:59.^ Kandahar Airfield & Inuksuk Memorial, 31°30′21″N 065°50′52″E
:60.^ Malta Memorial, 35°53′40.57″N 014°30′28.27″E
:61.^ South African War Memorial and Animals at War, 45°25′21.84″N 075°41′31.68″W

References

• Philip Longworth, The Unending Vigil: A History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1917-1967 (1967);
• Robert Shipley, To Mark Our Place (1987);
• Herbert Fairlie Wood and John Swettenham, Silent Witnesses (1974).

External links

• Memorials to Canadians' Achievements & Sacrifices