Canada Memorial | |
---|---|
Canada | |
For 113,663 members of the Canadian Forces killed during the First and Second World Wars. [1] | |
Unveiled | 1994 |
Location | 51°30′10″N0°08′33″W / 51.5029°N 0.1426°W |
Designed by | Pierre Granche |
The Canada Memorial in Green Park, London, United Kingdom, commemorates members of the Canadian Forces killed during the First and Second World Wars. It was designed by the Canadian sculptor Pierre Granche, erected in 1992 and unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994. [2] The memorial was the result of lobbying and fund raising, much of it in Canada, by the former Canadian media tycoon Conrad Black. [3]
Pierre Granche, one of Canada's foremost sculptors, won the commission as the result of a competition, sculpted the memorial from red granite; it is divided by a walkway into two distinct halves, representing Britain and Canada's joint participation in World Wars I and II. The inclined sculpture is inset with 506 bronze maple leaves (the Canadian emblem) and the country's coat of arms. Water flows across the sloping surface and creates an illusion of floating leaves. [4] An inscription at the centre of the memorial reads:
"In two world wars one million Canadians came to Britain and joined the fight for freedom. From danger shared, our friendship prospers."
From 2004, following a change in fortunes of the memorial's patron, Conrad Black, the memorial fell into disrepair and became subject to debate concerning its maintenance. [5] In 2008, the Canadian Government assumed responsibility for the upkeep of the memorial: announcing "Our Government will ensure that the Canada Memorial in London, England, has the long-term care and upkeep it deserves as a lasting and fitting tribute to our nation's truest heroes." [6] As of October 2011, the memorial was fenced off and not operational, despite £50,000 spent by Veterans Affairs Canada in renovations and upkeep. [7] After refurbishment of corroded pipes and fittings, the memorial has now reopened.
At the same time as the Memorial was being built and unveiled, the same group of people behind it raised an endowment called the Canada Memorial Foundation. Since the early 1990s that endowment has been sending British students to do post-graduate studies at Canadian universities. It is managed by volunteer trustees and is completely separate from the Green Park Memorial. However, the Foundation shares similar aims of encouraging the connections and cooperation between Britain and Canada. [8]
The Green Park, one of the Royal Parks of London, is in the City of Westminster, Central London. Green Park is to the north of the gardens and semi-circular forecourt of Buckingham Palace, across Constitution Hill road. The park is in the middle of a near-continuous chain of green spaces in Westminster that includes St James's Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. To the northwest of Green Park is the district of St James's including, Lancaster House, Clarence House, and St James's Palace.
Pierre Granche was a French-Canadian sculptor. Having studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal and the Université de Vincennes in Paris, he taught in the art history department of the Université de Montréal for more than twenty years (1975–1997) until his death from lung cancer in Montreal.
Walter Seymour Allward was a Canadian monumental sculptor best known for the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. Featuring expressive classical figures within modern compositions, Allward's monuments evoke themes of memory, sacrifice, and redemption. He has been widely praised for his "original sense of spatial composition, his mastery of the classical form and his brilliant craftsmanship".
Events from the year 1948 in Canada.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located in Washington, D.C.'s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. It memorializes those who served in the Korean War (1950–1953). The national memorial was dedicated in 1995. It includes 19 statues representing U.S. military personnel in action. In 2022, the memorial was expanded to include a granite memorial wall, engraved with the names of U.S. military personnel who died in the war.
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a war memorial site in France dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It also serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers of the First World War killed or presumed dead in France who have no known grave. The monument is the centrepiece of a 100-hectare (250-acre) preserved battlefield park that encompasses a portion of the ground over which the Canadian Corps made their assault during the initial Battle of Vimy Ridge offensive of the Battle of Arras.
Events from the year 1920 in art.
The National War Memorial in Downtown St. John's is the most elaborate of all the post World War I monuments in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was erected at King's Beach on Water Street where, in 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for England. It was formally unveiled on Memorial Day, 1 July 1924 by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig.
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The Le Quesnel Memorial is a Canadian war memorial that commemorates the actions of the Canadian Corps during the 1918 Battle of Amiens during World War I. The battle marked the beginning of a 96-day period known as "Canada's Hundred Days" that saw the crumbling of the German Army and ultimately the Armistice that ended the war. The memorial is located just to the southwest of the village of Le Quesnel, on the road between Amiens and Roye, in northern France.
Maiko Jeong Shun Lee, Viscountess Rothermere is a Japanese-born Korean philanthropist and patron of the arts active in New York City, Paris and London. She is the widow of the 3rd Viscount Rothermere, proprietor of British newspaper the Daily Mail, whom she married in 1993, having been his mistress for many years.
The Veterans Memorial Parkway is a 13.4 km limited-access and municipally maintained parkway located entirely within London, Ontario. The parkway was previously the provincial King's Highway 100 from 1977 until 1993, and was formerly named Airport Road from 1977 to September 2006. It begins in the south at Wilton Grove Road and ends at Clarke Road, which it continues as northward.
The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the commemoration of Dominion of Newfoundland forces members who were killed during World War I. The 74-acre (300,000 m2) preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916 during the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Canadian war memorials are buildings, monuments, and statues that commemorate the armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Canada, the role of the Canadian military in conflicts and peacekeeping operations, and Canadians who died or were injured in a war. Much of this military history of Canada is commemorated today with memorials across the country 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 Confederation in 1949, there are several monuments in Newfoundland and Labrador and abroad which were dedicated to Newfoundland servicemen and women.
Peacekeeper Park is an urban park in Calgary, Alberta. The park is located in the neighbourhood of North Glenmore, on the former grounds of Canadian Forces Base Calgary. The park includes a memorial wall with the names of Canadian Forces members who have given their lives on peacekeeping and peace support missions with the United Nations, NATO and other organizations since the end of the Second World War, including the current mission in Afghanistan.
The Bromley Parish Church Memorial commemorates the deceased parishioners of World War I. The war memorial was designed and constructed by British sculptor Sydney March, of the March family of artists.
The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial in Green Park, London, commemorating the crews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War. The memorial, on the south side of Piccadilly, facing Hyde Park Corner, was built to mark the sacrifice of 55,573 aircrew from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Czechoslovakia and other allied countries, as well as civilians of all nations killed during raids.
The Vimy Foundation is a charity focused on raising awareness of the role Canada played in World War I and the implications of Canada's success in the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917. The Vimy Foundation was founded in 1996 by John Andrew Powell, with support from Sir Nicholas Bonsor. Its office is located in Toronto, Canada.
The Cavalry of the Empire Memorial, also known as the Cavalry Memorial, is a war memorial in Hyde Park, London. It commemorates the service of cavalry regiments in the First and Second World Wars. It became a Grade II listed building in 1987, and was promoted to Grade II* in November 2014.