The Morewood Cenotaph Committee honored their fallen on the 100th anniversary of the original unveiling of the cenotaph - July 6, 2021, by installing 21 mini-monuments - ten along each side - one for each of those who had given their lives, and one by itself at the back representing all who returned. A portrait of George McLaughlin is etched into his memorial. He had a small pox mark on his left cheek, stood 5 foot 9 inches, had brown hair and hazel eyes.
George was a banker at the Bank of Nova Scotia before the war and played hockey and softball on occasion. He had served in the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders as well as the Brockville Rifles. Passing his initial training June - July 1942 in Toronto, Ontario, he followed this with his Air Navigator’s course in London, Ontario August - December 1942. He was first listed as missing in action, and later presumed dead as of 18 November 1943. According to eyewitnesses, an aircraft crashed less than a mile North of the village of Herschwiesen. It had been shot down by an enemy night fighter.
George had five brothers enlisted in the war and a fiancée from Ottawa, Miss Frances M. Reid.
The 20 pillars representing individual soldiers are in alphabetic order. The 21st pillar sits in the shadow of the cenotaph and between the two rows.
