The Soldiers’ Cairn, dedicated to those who died in the First and Second World Wars, sits in Walkerton Cemetery on land donated by Walkerton Town Council for any soldier who died without a family plot. There are four crosses marking the boundary of the Veterans’ Plot.
The cairn was erected in 1944 by personal subscriptions of ex-soldiers of the First World War, members of the British Empire Service League, which was the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Legion. Fred Berger built the cairn and Comrade C. R. Skelton inscribed the plaque. The cairn was officially unveiled on July 8, 1945, by Comrade N. R. Robertson. Veterans and a large number of civilians including many relatives of those who made the supreme sacrifice, took part in the service conducted by the Legion Chaplain, Reverend R. C. Capper.
Twelve crosses were also erected, inscribed with the names the 12 Walkerton boys who made the supreme sacrifice during the Second World War: David Crozier, Floyd Fennell, Lorne Graf, Carl Grubb, Walter Jones, Lloyd Kirstine, Walter Lines, Wilfred O’Brien, John O’Brien, James Rennie, Earl Royce and James Ross. Those crosses have not survived.
