Remembering
Memories of a soldier son
Patrick McDermott left his home in Woodstock, Ontario, to enlist in the Canadian Army, and eventually served with the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. He was killed in action in September 1944, and buried in Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands. After the war, his family saved these few mementos of his time in uniform.
"God bless our noble womenfolk"
This song looking back at the war from 1921 was unusual in giving equal attention to its impact on women as well as men.
Saskatchewan veterans raising funds
The Canadian Legion branch in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, grew from the town's Great War Veterans' Association branch, founded in December 1918. In the 1930s, Legion members were involved in an effort to build a memorial hospital for the region.
In honour of returning soldiers
Dedicated to the Returned Soldiers’ Association of Winnipeg, Miller's song looked ahead to the day when soldiers would return to their loved ones.
A family shows its pride
Leonard Brooks enlisted in the 34th Battalion in Galt, Ontario; after he was wounded in the Ypres Salient in June 1916, his family produced this postcard to show their pride.
Make your own sailor's memorial
Distributed with an illustrated magazine, this memorial scroll could accommodate various sizes of photographs, and had a space where the sailor's name and rank could be recorded.
Tribute to a soldier
After George Yates was killed in action while serving on the Western Front with the 20th Battalion, his grieving family in Toronto produced this booklet as a tribute to his life.
Veterans return to France
Tourist official in the city of Tours, France, prepared this guide to the local sights for ex-soldiers and their families who visited the area during the Vimy Pilgrimage in 1936.
Dundas Methodists remember
Methodist Church superintendent Rev. S.D. Chown was on hand as the congregation in Dundas, Ontario, dedicated its war memorial plaque in 1920.
A reunion of gunners
On the ninth anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, veterans of this Toronto artillery battery met to relive old times and remember their dead.
A dance for the memorial
In 1949, students at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, held a Valentine's Day dance to raise funds for the institution's Second World War memorial.
Memorial Gates presentation at RCAF Trenton
The Memorial Gates at Trenton, Ontario, commemorating Canada's participation in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, were presented on 30 September 1949.
A war memorial in progress
In 1928, prime minister Mackenzie King visited the studio of sculptor Vernon March in England to inspect the progress of the National War Memorial.
A war memorial sculptor at work
At his studio in Farnborough, England, in 1927, Vernon March works on the figures that will be mounted on the top of the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
Honouring the dead of Toronto
A huge crowd gathered to witness the unveiling of Toronto's war memorial, in front of City Hall, in 1935.
The passing of a King
Children watch as the cenotaph in Windsor, Ontario, is draped with flags and bunting to mark the 1936 death of King George V, who led the British Empire through the First World War.
Lord Byng in Edmonton
Canada's governor-general, Lord Byng of Vimy, examines the newly unveiled war memorial in Edmonton, Alberta, on 10 April 1922.
The Chemainus war memorial
The small cenotaph honouring the seven men of Chemainus, British Columbia, who were killed in the First World War was unveiled in 1921.
Remembrance Day in Halifax
Although the Second World War had been in progress for over a year, the 1940 ceremony in the Nova Scotia capital was still focussed on the First World War.
A visitor at the London cenotaph
Judging by the expressions of the onlookers, the visitor to a London, Ontario, Remembrance Day ceremony, probably in 1939, was not especially welcome.