This memorial is dedicated to all Veterans.
The 1908 death of Trooper James Daly in Montreal, a soldier for over 20 years and a veteran of the South African War, was the catalyst that would lead to the creation of the Last Post Fund by Arthur Hair. Being a veteran of the South African War himself, and now an orderly at the hospital where Daly had been treated, Hair was shocked that the penniless Daly’s remains would likely be turned over to science for medical research, as was customary in those days. Hair raised money from friends and colleagues to give the soldier a decent and dignified funeral and Daly was buried at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery on Mount-Royal. Wanting to ensure that no Veteran in need would ever be deprived of a dignified burial, Hair quickly founded the Last Post Fund in 1909 with the purchase of two plots on Mount Royal. With the advent of WWI, these two plots soon reached capacity, and in 1929 the Last Post Fund purchased six acres of land adjacent to the Lakeview Cemetery in Pointe-Claire. This piece of land would become the National Field of Honour, the final resting place for more than 20,000 servicemen and women, and their loved ones.
