Soldiers' Tower | |
---|---|
Canada | |
For members of the university who served in the World Wars | |
Unveiled | 1924 |
Location | University of Toronto near Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Designed by | Henry Sproatt and Ernest Ross Rolph |
names of alumni lost in the Great War (1914–18) and in the Second World War (1939–45). |
Soldiers' Tower is a bell and clock tower at the University of Toronto that commemorates members of the university who served in the World Wars. Designed by architects Henry Sproatt and Ernest Ross Rolph, the Gothic Revival tower stands at 143 feet (43.6 m) tall and houses a carillon of 51 bells.
After the Great War, university alumni raised $397,141 to erect the tower as a war memorial. The cornerstone was laid in 1919 by Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, the 11th Governor General of Canada. Construction was completed in 1924 at a cost of $252,500, with the surplus funds endowed for scholarships in perpetuity. The names of those lost in the Great War (1914–18) are etched on a sheltered stone screen adjacent to the tower's base, while the inner walls of the tower's stone archway are inscribed with the names of those lost in the Second World War (1939–45).
In 1927, the clock was installed and the carillon was dedicated with its first 23 bells. Both were purchased by the alumni association from the famous British firm Gillett & Johnston, which also cast the bells atop the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. An additional 19 bells were added in 1952 to commemorate World War II, but were replaced in 1976 and more bells added. The carillon was rededicated that year at its present size with the addition of these 28 bells from Petit & Fritsen. In that same operation the transposition of this carillon was unfortunately raised: whereas the instrument at first transposed down a major second, its 51 bells now speak at concert pitch. The bells of Soldiers' Tower Carillon range in weight from 23 pounds to the bourdon's 4 tons, and are performed on special occasions such as convocation, reunions, homecoming and Remembrance Day in addition to regular recitals attended by university members and the general public. Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the University of Toronto are held yearly, on or about the 11th of November, with representatives from many Canadian institutions laying wreaths at the foot of the Soldier's Tower in honour of alumni who, as soldiers, made the ultimate sacrifice during WWI and WWII. [1]
The tower features a dramatic 12-panel stained-glass window that is partly a visual interpretation of John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields", along with 8 smaller stained-glass windows that depict men and women of the armed forces at wartime. This memorial is dedicated to members of the University of Toronto who served in the First and Second World Wars. [2] A museum within the tower showcases a collection of medals, memorial books, portraits, photographs, flags and miscellaneous memorabilia from the period. A memorial stained glass window is dedicated to three University College students (Malcolm Mackenzie, I.H. Mewburn, and William Tempest) killed in the Fenian Raids. [3] High on the wall of the Memorial Room there is a memorial carved in stone for each of the Carillon of 51 bells (iron plus playing console) which memorialize individuals at the University of Toronto who lost their lives in World War I. [4]
The First World War inscription on the memorial panels of Soldiers' Tower is:
To the glorious memory
of members of this University
who fell in the Great War
1914–1918
Take these men for your ensamples
like them remember that prosperity can be only for the free
that freedom is the sure possession of those alone
who have the courage to defend it.
The Second World War inscription on the memorial panels is:
To the glorious memory of the members of this
University who fell in the Second World War
1939–1945
Their story is not graven only in stone over their
native earth, but lives on far away, without visible
symbol, woven into the stuff of other men's lives.
An additional set of inscriptions on the First World War panels includes two biblical quotes in Ancient Greek and Latin, respectively:
apothanōn eti lalei
And so they passed over
and all the trumpets sounded for them
on the other side.
Iustorum animae in manu Dei
The first biblical quote is from Hebrews 11:4: "Though dead, he still speaks." The second biblical quote is taken from Wisdom 3:1: "The souls of the just [are] in the hands of God."
Reproduced is the poem: In Flanders Field. Among the list of the dead in WWI is the author John McCrae.
The Peace Tower is a focal bell and clock tower sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. The present incarnation replaced the 55-metre (180 ft) Victoria Tower, after the latter burned down in 1916, along with most of the Centre Block; only the Library of Parliament survived. It serves as a Canadian icon and had been featured prominently on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill, directly adjacent to the depiction of Queen Elizabeth II, until the change to polymer.
Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War I cemetery in the city of Waregem, Belgium. Originally a temporary battlefield burial ground, Flanders Field American Cemetery later became the only permanent American World War I cemetery in Belgium. The Flanders Field American Cemetery commemorates 411 service members of the United States Armed Forces of which 368 are interred. The Walls of the Missing inside the chapel venerates 43 missing service members.
The Church of St John the Evangelist, better known as the Afghan Church, is a church of Anglican heritage, that belongs to the Mumbai diocese of the Church of North India. Located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, it was built by the British between 1847 and 1858 to commemorate the dead of the First Afghan War and the disastrous 1842 retreat from Kabul. Memorials at the rear of the nave also record casualties from the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The foundation stone was laid in 1847; it was consecrated in 1858, and work on the steeple finished in 1865.
The National War Memorial of New Zealand is located next to the Dominion Museum building on Buckle Street, in Wellington, the nation's capital. The war memorial was dedicated in 1932 on Anzac Day in commemoration of the First World War. It also officially remembers the New Zealanders who gave their lives in the South African War, World War II and the wars in Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Cathedral Church of St Michael and St George serves as the Roman Catholic cathedral for the Bishopric of the Forces. Located on Queens Avenue in Aldershot, England, the building was originally intended to be the principal church for the Anglican chaplaincies of the British Army but since 1973 it has been the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Forces.
The First Presbyterian Church of Stamford is a church in Stamford, Connecticut designed by architect Wallace K. Harrison. Nicknamed the Fish Church for its unusual shape. The interior of the church contains a shimmering stained glass 60-foot-tall nave. it is a unique example of modernist architecture, and an architectural landmark. Its 260-foot-tall (79 m) Maguire Memorial Tower holds a 56-bell carillon. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture in 2021, and the church is an active congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
St George's Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, and the seat of the Archbishop of Cape Town. St. George's Cathedral is both the metropolitical church of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and a congregation in the Diocese of Cape Town.
Norwood Memorial Municipal Building is a historic building located in Norwood, Massachusetts, United States.
During World War II, the Netherlands was the scene of five years of continuous air warfare between the Allied and the Nazis as the Netherlands lies en route from England to Germany and was designated and built up as the foremost line of Nazi air defence of Germany. Also, in 1944 there was heavy land fighting during the largest Allied airborne attack of the WWII in the south and east of the country in 1944–45. Thousands of airmen, soldiers and others of many nations were killed, and their war graves in some 4,000 locations are in the care of the Dutch War Cemetery Organisation.
St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church in St Mary's Place, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, the Trust designated St Mary's as its first Conservation Church in 2015. It is the largest church in Shrewsbury. Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of 'best' English parish churches.
St Mary's Church is in the village of Acton Burnell, Shropshire, England, and stands near the ruins of Acton Burnell Castle. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Condover, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the diocese of Hereford. Its benefice is united with those of St Andrew and St Mary, Condover, St Mark, Frodesley, and St Michael and All Angels, Pitchford. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
All Saints Church is in the village of Claverley, Shropshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Bridgnorth, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the diocese of Hereford. Its benefice is united with that of Holy Innocents, Tuck Hill. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
St. Peter's Church is in the village of Edgmond, Shropshire, England. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Edgmond and Shifnal, the archdeaconry of Salop, and the diocese of Lichfield. Its benefice is united with those of St Chad, Kynnersley, and St Lawrence, Preston upon the Weald Moors. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
St Mary's Church is in the village of Hopesay, Shropshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Clun Forest, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the diocese of Hereford. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
St Andrew's Church is a heritage-listed Seventh Day Adventist Church church at the corner of Maryborough and Woongarra Streets, Bundaberg Central, Bundaberg, Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Lange Leopold Powell and built from 1931 to c. 1940. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 August 2004.
Spalding War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the gardens of Ayscoughfee Hall in Spalding, Lincolnshire, in eastern England. It was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. The proposal for a memorial to Spalding's war dead originated in January 1918 with Barbara McLaren, whose husband and the town's Member of Parliament, Francis McLaren, was killed in a flying accident during the war. She engaged Lutyens via a family connection and the architect produced a plan for a grand memorial cloister surrounding a circular pond, in the middle of which would be a cross. The memorial was to be built in the formal gardens of Ayscoughfee Hall, which was owned by the local district council. When McLaren approached the council with her proposal, it generated considerable debate within the community and several alternative schemes were suggested. After a public meeting and a vote in 1919, a reduced-scale version of McLaren's proposal emerged as the preferred option, in conjunction with a clock on the town's corn exchange building.
University College, historically known as the Arts Building, is an academic building of the University of Western Ontario on its main campus in London, Ontario. The building has become an iconic symbol of the university, as well as a prominent landmark in the city of London. The building sits atop a hill and faces the Thames River. Along with the Physics and Astronomy Building, University College is one of the first buildings that was built on the present campus in 1922. The building currently houses the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
Alexis Hannum Helmer was killed in battle during the Great War while serving with the 2nd Battery, 1st Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery. He is known as being part of the inspiration for "In Flanders Fields" through his friendship with John McCrae.
St John's Kirk is a church in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Of Church of Scotland denomination, it is located in St John's Place, just southeast of the city centre. It stands on the former site of a church dating to 1126. Today's structure, built around 1448, is a Category A listed building. The church is most noted for being the site of John Knox's 1559 sermon against idolatry, which began the Scottish Reformation.
Media related to Soldiers' Tower at Wikimedia Commons