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. The image etched into the memorial are silhouettes of two soldiers rescuing an injured soldier from the battlefield superimposed over the First World War Canada maple leaf badge.
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. A shadow stone, not only because of where it is physically located, but also because of where it resides in our thoughts on Remembrance Day and recognition of their sacrifice. They survived the battlefield to return home changed, wounded, damaged in visible and invisible ways and they would eventually succumb to these wounds. They sacrificed their lives just as much as those who fell alongside them on the battlefield, it just took longer.
This single pillar represents so many Canadians whose sacrifices aren’t recorded in the Books of Remembrance and only appear in the shadows of our thoughts when attending Remembrance Day ceremonies. The pillar recognizes the sacrifices of those who survived the battlefield, but who would perish as a direct result of their combat environment, whether from an illness like tuberculosis or the Spanish flu, or through physical or mental injuries.
