War memorials are a reflection of the times in which they are built. They tell us about the values, practices, ideas and attitudes of the period.
One hundred years ago, on July 12, 1925, Lt.-Gov. Walter C. Nichol unveiled the cenotaph on the B.C. legislature grounds.
To plan and fund the cenotaph, Frederick Bernard Pemberton, founder of real-estate company Pemberton Holmes, had established the Victoria war memorial committee.
The committee was composed of many Victorians who suffered personal loss during the First World War. Two of Pemberton’s sons were killed in the war.
The official fundraising campaign, from Sept. 25 to Nov. 15, 1924, raised more than $12,500. Donations continued to come in, and by April, the amount had increased to more than $15,000.
All levels of Victoria society contributed. Many gave generously above their means at a time when 25 cents could purchase a pound of sirloin steak and a loaf of bread was less than a dime.
The cenotaph was designed by British sculptors Sydney and Vernon March, who would later design Canada’s National War Memorial in Ottawa.
The bronze statue, along with two wreaths and a plaque, was cast in England. The granite plinth was created by John Mortimer and Son of Victoria using Nelson Island granite, the same stone used in the legislature building.
Originally dedicated to the dead of the First World War, the memorial plaque was updated to include the Second World War. A plaque for Korea was added after 1953.
On June 30, 1993, B.C. became the first province to declare, through legislation, a memorial day to honour members of the Canadian Forces, police and civilians who died while serving on United Nations or other international peace operations.
A plaque, with a design inspired by the laurel wreath-encircled maple leaf on the reverse side of the medal of bravery and the inscription “in the service of peace” on the reverse of United Nation medals, was unveiled by then defence minister Arthur Eggleton on the eighth Peacekeepers Memorial Day, Aug. 9, 2000.
Peacekeepers Memorial Day became a national day of remembrance in 2008.
A plaque for Afghanistan was unveiled by Prince William and Princess Catherine on Sept. 24, 2016.
War memorials are a reflection of the times in which they are built. They tell us about the values, practices, ideas and attitudes of the period.
That is demonstrated in the contrast between the imagery of the 100-year-old cenotaph at the legislature and the Afghanistan memorial across from Christ Church Cathedral on Quadra Street that was unveiled on Sept. 30, 2017, by then lieutenant-governor Judith Guichon.
The cenotaph depicts a soldier engaging the enemy in a bayonet fight. The soldier on the Afghanistan memorial is reaching out to take a child’s hand.
Both monuments were funded largely by public subscription and organized by volunteer committees. The contrast between the two images speaks to the evolution of the public perception of military and naval service and the fact that for eight decades, Canadians have not had to put their lives on hold and go to war as was the case in the past, for parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents.
Eight Books of Remembrance in Ottawa contain the names of more than 120,000 individuals who have given their lives in the service of Canada, from the War of 1812 to the present.
Traditionally, they are kept under protective glass in the Memorial Chamber at the top of the Parliament Buildings. They are currently displayed at Parliament Hill’s visitor welcome centre, in the Room of Remembrance, while the centre block of the Parliament Buildings undergoes a decade-long renovation.
There is a ritual each day when a page is turned in each of the books to reveal the names recorded.
The wartime veterans of the first half of the last century won the peace. The veterans since have maintained the peace. They prevented international confrontation during the Cold War. They made and kept the peace on dozens of United Nations and NATO peace operations that included the full spectrum of action, from stoic observation to dynamic combat as well as caring humanitarian aid.
Additionally, there is the immense body of work at bases, airfields and harbours across Canada that supports those deployed at a distance. Canada’s place in the world has been determined by our willingness to engage in the world by stepping forward to bring Canadian values, courage, and pragmatism to places in need or when events overseas pose a threat to our well-being.
That service has not been without loss. The eighth book of remembrance, “In the Service of Canada,” lists the names of Canadian Forces members who have died while serving Canada since Oct. 1, 1947 (except Korea, which has a separate book). The eighth book is in its second volume and includes more than 2,000 who died in peace operations, Cold War deterrence and Afghanistan.
It includes deaths during training exercises, deployments abroad or other non-combat military duty. Who would have thought that a soldier on sentry duty at the National War Memorial would be gunned down, as happened on Oct. 22, 2014?
Only a few thousand veterans of the Second World War and Korea remain. At 92 to more than 100 years of age, their living memory will soon pass into history.
Many of those who served on early peace operations and in Europe from 1948 to 1993 are also gone. The Victoria cenotaph was to be “Victoria’s perpetual monument to the memory of the dead who fell in the greatest of wars.”
The Afghanistan monument was motivated by the hope that Afghanistan would not gain the label applied to the Korea conflict as “the forgotten war.”
The centennial of the Victoria cenotaph is an opportunity to reflect on the shifting narrative of military service.
A century later, the legacy of past military service lives. We must preserve the memory of all those whose service was cut short, including those whose experience was complicit in their subsequent death, regardless of the cause, no matter their mission at home or abroad.
Memorials prompt us to be mindful not only of those who served in war to win the peace, but to honour those who have since protected the freedoms for which they fought, regardless of their service and circumstance.
Gerald Pash is a former broadcaster, defence public affairs officer and citizenship judge. When he was an infant, his father, Gunner C.W. Pash, died as a result of service in the Second World War. He regularly serves as director of ceremonies at commemorative events.