On December 4, 1918, the Village Council discussed a suitable memorial for soldiers who served in the First World War. In June of 1920, the Chairman of the Memorial Committee of Norwood asked for a special committee to confer with a recently appointed Asphodel committee to erect a memorial in a central location.
The Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE) started fund raising in September of 1921. On May 2, 1923, Council appointed representatives from 23 local organizations to the memorial committee. In September of 1923, the IODE requested the matter of the memorial be handed over to them and were granted permission on June 24, 1924 to place the memorial at the head of Colborne Street.
At the dedication on July 6, 1924, which was spearheaded by the 40th Northumberland Chapter of the IODE an invitation was extended to ex members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and all vets of former wars to a parade at the Armouries to assist in the unveiling at 2 o'clock. Permission was obtained from district headquarters for the wearing of uniforms on this occasion.
The steps to the cenotaph were presented by the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire in 1967.
Local newspaper story: Norwood Memorial Dedication
"No more impressive service was ever held in Norwood's history than the unveiling ceremonies of our village's war memorial to her fallen heroes, held on Sunday afternoon last. Words cannot tell the deep and tender feelings that permeated the hearts of those present on that afternoon, or the devotion with which the ceremonies were carried out - but those from outside points freely expressed the opinion that the service was one of the most fitting and beautiful and sacred that they had ever attended.
Early after the noon hour groups commenced to gather on the streets and by two o'clock Colborne Street was thronged by thousands on either side to halfway up the hill where the memorial stood shrouded in a huge Union Jack with a solitary sentry clad in khaki standing silently before it as a guard of honour. Since 12 o'clock midnight the guard of honour had kept watch, relieved at regular intervals and carefully observing all military details. In the intense heat the large crowd silently waited and at the last strains of martial music were heard as the procession left the armouries.
Once again, and perhaps the last for many a day, the khaki boys, two hundred strong, swung up the village street. Beside Sunday's marching men, however, tripped along a white costumed band of little girls each carrying a white bouquet, as if symbolic of peace and in sweet remembrance of the missing, expressing a tribute for the protection given that they and their land had been kept from the ravages of the foe. The order of the military procession was the 40th Northumberland Regiment Band, the Guard of Honour, the Boy Scouts, the Officers, the Firing Squad, the Veterans, and members of the 40th Regiment.
Col. Thos J. Johnston, the esteemed commander of the well remembered 93rd Battalion, was then called upon to read the roll, and this was one of the tense moments which held the large crowd. At the conclusion of the roll the Colonel addressed a few fervent words to his audience. "Never was a monument erected to better material or better type of men". The Band then softly rendered the hymn Nearer My God To Thee.
The most impressive moment of the service was the invocation of dedication pronounced by his Lordship Bishop W.C. White of Honan China. The act of unveiling having been done by Nursing Sister, Mrs. Annie Kempt, who loosened the cord and lowered the flag enfolding the monument."
Excerpts from Thoughts by Rob Gordon, published in the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 300 November/December 2000 newsletter entitled Ricochet:
"A ceremonial unveiling and dedication took place on July 6, 1924. Old photographs show the ground to be absent of any grass. A large crowd had gathered for the occasion many of whom carried black umbrellas. The platform, covered by an oriental carpet for the dignitaries had been erected on the West side of the monument. Upon this stood a table covered by a Union Jack and a vase of flowers. Four soldiers stood at ease at the four corners of the monument with fixed bayonets. This appeared to be an unusual practice since normally on such occasions arms are reversed. The monument itself was draped in the Union Flag under which in two World Wars Canadian troops fought. Performing the unveiling ceremony was a veteran of the war, Mrs. Fred Kempt, a member of the I.O.D.E. and a nursing sister, who had, no doubt witnessed the tragic consequence of warfare in the course of her work.
For some time after the dedication a mortar stood on the south side of the monument, but it is now long gone. On the South, North and West sides of the Cenotaph carved in the stone is a sword. Each sword points earthward, symbolic of peace. Yet the space behind the hilt of each sword is indented and conveys, that should the need arise, it can be taken up quickly. In place of a sword on the North face is an emblematic floral embellishment. It may be intended to resemble poppies. Each corner at the top is adorned with a maple leaf. Topping the monument is a stylized Greek oil lamp symbolizing the fallen everlasting spirit, a flickering flame fashioned in bronze."
