The original memorial was built in 1920, a tall carved memorial flanked by spear and drapery motifs on the main body. The Government donated a German artillery gun from the First World War to Gilbert Plains in 1920 and it became part of the original war memorial. The gun was taken for scrap metal during the Second World War. It was found out afterwards that three quarters of the metal from the gun ended up in Japan because someone stole the metal and sold it.
The rural municipality fronted money for the next memorial which was supplied by Thompson & Co. of Toronto. The cenotaph stood by the sidewalk leading to the Brickburn School until the late 1960s when the new elementary school was built. It was then almost surrounded by the school. With the construction of a new park, the Legion took the opportunity to move the cenotaph to a more accessible location and it was rededicated on 14 September 2002.
