Manitoulin District Cenotaph

Spring Bay, Manitoulin Island, Ontario

Type

Other

Construction of the Manitoulin District Cenotaph took place from 1989 to 1997 in memory of 129 fallen militia and 2,200 Canadian Merchant Seamen. The inscription block on the Cenotaph pedestal was sculpted from marble and engraved with the names and details of four local soldiers killed in action in the First World War. Four more names were added after Second World War. In the early 1960s, the structure was heavily damaged in an auto accident. The statue was destroyed, but the remainder was salvaged and replaced with an obelisk. It was relocated on what eventually became the base of the Merchant Navy Memorial.

In the fall of 1989, a committee was organized to improve the park and replace the obelisk with a new statue. This culminated in a proposal to explore the possibility of expanding the complex and upgrading it to district status. Research indicated a new monument was needed. This led to sponsorship by local Royal Canadian Legions Branches 177 and 514, Little Current and Gore Bay. The funding was greatly enhanced by public support. This enabled further expansion, including the background structures, the memorial plaque wing, the monolith, the ceremonial dais, and other components.

The Cenotaph was dedicated on June 5, 1994. Since then, the numbers of names on the Cenotaph have increased to 130, and more are expected to be found. John C. Bryan is the designer of the memorial.

The Merchant Navy Memorial, Manitoulin Women's Memorial and Youth in Partnership with Veterans Memorial are also located in the Veterans' Memorial Gardens Complex.

Inscription

[front/devant]

MANITOULIN DISTRICT CENOTAPH
(Legion Crest)
177 LITTLE CURRENT
514 GORE BAY

NAVY ARMY AIR FORCE

“HONOUR LIBERTY THAT
THEY NOT DIE IN VAIN”

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
IN FLANDERS FIELDS THE POPPIES BLOW
BETWEEN THE CROSSES, ROW ON ROW
THAT MARK OUR PLACE; AND IN THE SKY
THE LARKS, STILL BRAVELY SINGING, FLY
SCARCE HEARD AMID THE GUNS BELOW.

WE ARE THE DEAD, SHORT DAYS AGO
WE LIVED, FELT DAWN, SAW SUNSET GLOW,
LOVED AND WERE LOVED, AND NOW WE LIE
IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

TAKE UP THE QUARREL WITH THE FOE;
TO YOU FROM FAILING HANDS WE THROW
THE TORCH; BE YOURS TO HOLD IT HIGH,
IF YE BREAK FAITH WITH US WHO DIE
WE SHALL NOT SLEEP, THOUGH POPPIES GROW
IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

COL. JOHN McCRAE

TOWNS
GORE BAY
LITTLE CURRENT
ANISHINABEK FIRST NATIONS
COCKBURN ISLAND
SHESHEGWANING
SHEGUIANDAH
SUCKER CREEK
WEST BAY
WHITEFISH RIVER
WIKWEMIKONG
TOWNSHIPS
ALLAN
ASSIGINACK
BARRIE ISLAND
BIDWELL
BILLINGS
BURPEE
CAMPBELL
CARLYLE
CARNARVON
COCKBURN ISLAND
DAWSON
GORDON
HOWLAND
HUMBOLDT
KILLARNEY
MILLS
ROBINSON
RUTHERFORD AND
GEORGE ISLAND
SANDFIELD
SHEGUIANDAH
TEHKUMMAH

WE KNOW THE VALUE OF FREEDOM WHEN WE KNOW THE COSTS
LEST WE FORGET
DEDICATED JUNE 5th 1994

[wall/mur]

MANITOULIN DISTRICT CENOTAPH
THIS SYMBOL OF FREEDOM IS DEDICATED TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN
HONOUR OF THOSE WHOSE SACRIFICE WAS FULL, FINAL AND EVERLASTING.
OUR MEMORIES OF THEM WILL BE FOREVER TREASURED IN ETERNAL
GRATITUDE FOR THEIR GIFT OF LIBERTY, PEACE AND PRIVILEGE.

[plaque 1]

WORLD WAR I 1914-1918
Joseph Adams
? Anwatin
Alexander L. Ballantyne
Benjamin Ballantyne
George Baxter

[plaque 2]

Harry Beatty
Lawrence Beatty
Percy Beck
Sam Blackburn
Austin W. Blackie
Ernest J. Blackie
Lorne Bradley
Harry W. Brown
Michael Cada
Norman Campbell
William Carr
Isban A. Clark
George W. Collins
Edwin E. Cook
John Cowan
John D. Currie

[plaque 3]
Jack Elliot
Joseph Enosse
F. Walter Farthing
Amerod Ferguson
Blair Frazer
Joseph C. Gallagher
R. Joseph Good
Augustus Hartung
Victor Hewson
Robert R. Hill
Charles Holmes
Wilfred J. Holmes
John Hughson
Robert Hunter
William Jackman
Alexander G. Jeffery

[plaque 4]

Edgar Kent
Frank Lavallee
John E. Leach
John Maguire
Harvey C. Marshall
Dave Matheson
John McDonald
John Keddy
John McMillan
James Merrilees
Ernest Minors
Nelson Minors
Vincent Misinishkotewe
Thomas Moore
Louis J. Norton
Eli Louis Niganiwah

[plaque 5]
Thomas Niganiwina
Frank Nighswander
James T. Pattison
Andrew Peltier
Percy Pifer
Franklin Proulx
James A. Raynor
W. Leslie Riching
William Rousseau
Lorne Rumley
Laurence Russell
Clarence Rush
Leslie Scott
Colin D. Sims
James F. Valliquette

[plaque 6]

Michael Wabanosse
Lorne Walker
William Wickett
Arlif R. Wilkin
Alden Wilkinson
Robert Willet
Valentine Wilman
Nelson Young

[plaque 7]

WORLD WAR II 1939 – 1945
Gilbert Alexander
Keith Beange
Kenneth Buck
Les Campbell
Aubrey Chalmers
Richard J. Clark
Dominic Corbiere
Everett Coulter
Hubert Coulter
John A. Eadie
Ivan Falls
Lloyd Fowler
William Fowler

[plaque 8]

Alphonse Gaiashk
Fredrick G. Green
John C. Halcrow
J. Lloyd Hall
Morland L. Hembruff
Steve R.G. Hilson
James S. Howard
Eric C. Hughson
J. Mac Johnson
Leonard Lehman
Norman F. Lockyer
Henry Mandamin
Alponse Manitowabi (Korea)
Russell McCraken
Theodore McGregor
Armand McMillian

[plaque 9]

Leonard Mumford
Charles Nahwegezhic
Roland Nahwegezhic
L. W. Orford
John Ozaomik
Alfred Pitawanakwat
Burt Rogue
Frank Rowe
Wilbert Rowe
Ernest Sagle
Isaac Shawanda
Robert Smeltzer
Russell Stringer
Zoey Trudeau
Lyle Van Horn
Douglas M. Wagg

[plaque 10]