On November 11th, at the eleventh hour, we shall be still and remember the sacrifice of Canadians who fought and served in global conflicts to defend our rights and freedoms and those who served as peacekeepers, bringing stability and order to war-ravaged areas across the globe. To mark these remembrances, community members gather at memorials and cenotaphs which honour the fallen and those who returned home.
On the afternoon of Sunday June 18, 1922, a crowd of five to seven thousand citizens and Great War veterans of Kitchener and Waterloo gathered at Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener to witness the unveiling of a memorial, bearing the names of 118 service people who died in the Great War.
The granite stone with brass plaque was constructed by Casper Braun Co., and funded by the community. It sits in an idyllic setting, surrounded by other military burials and headstones.
As time passed, the efforts of the local Princess of Wales chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE) to promote an annual Poppy Day, helped spur the drive to erect a permanent and public memorial in the City in the mid-1920s. Inspiration for the structure came from an IODE member‘s vacation photograph of the cenotaph in Whitehall, London by British architect Edwin Lutyens. Local architect William H.E. Schmalz designed the structure, which was unveiled on May 24, 1929 by Lieutenant-Governor William D. Ross.
It originally sat on a small traffic island on Frederick Street, near King Street. However, as traffic downtown increased, the location became less suitable for quiet reflection and public gatherings.
In 1949, it was moved to City Hall and enabled the public to gather for Remembrance Day ceremonies. Gardens, tended by the Kitchener Horticultural Society, surrounded the monument.
With the development of Market Square, the cenotaph was moved to the corner of Frederick and Duke Streets, where it sits today. It was re-dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II during a royal visit in 1973. Recent re-development of the cenotaph site includes the creation of a plaza, bearing maple leaf stampings which surround the cenotaph.
As we gather on Remembrance Day, cenotaphs and memorials are enduring symbols of the sacrifice of those who answered the call to defend all that we hold dear as a nation. We will remember them.
The Grace Schmidt Room of Local History Room has the following resources for Remembrance:
Oral History Tapes – Listen here
Soldier Information Cards – World War One World War Two
Soldier Portraits - View here
Arthur John Riehl Collection war artefacts display – front window of the Grace Schmidt Room, Central Library.
Karen
Manager, Grace Schmidt Room of Local History