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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Richard Alfred Ireland

In memory of:

Captain Richard Alfred Ireland

October 30, 1917

Military Service


Age:

28

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment)

Additional Information


Son of William Henry and Caroline Ireland. Formerly on the Staff of Homewood Sanatorium, Guelph, and Toronto General Hospital.

Commemorated on Page 261 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

Panel 32

Location:


The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:


TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:

HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Inscription on Menin Gate– Inscription on the Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Photo of Menin Gate– Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Barrie Examiner c.1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Roll of Service– From the "University of Toronto / Roll of Service 1914-1918", published in 1921.
  • Photo of Richard Ireland– From: The Varsity Magazine Supplement published by The Students Administrative Council, University of Toronto 1916.  
Submitted for the Soldiers' Tower Committee, University of Toronto, by Operation Picture Me.
  • Photo of Richard Ireland– From: The Varsity Magazine Supplement Fourth Edition 1918
published by The Students Administrative Council, University of Toronto.  
Submitted for the Soldiers' Tower Committee, University of Toronto, by Operation Picture Me.
  • Newspaper Clipping– In honoured memory.
  • Memorial Room– Memorial Room, Soldiers' Tower, University of Toronto.  Photo by David Pike, 2010; courtesy of Alumni Relations.
  • The Soldiers' Tower– The Soldiers' Tower was built at University of Toronto between 1919-1924 in memory of those lost to the University in the Great War. Funds were raised by the Alumni Federation (now called the University of Toronto Alumni Association.) The name of "Capt. R. A. IRELAND C.A.M.C." is among the 628 names carved on the Memorial Screen, seen at photo left. Photo: K. Parks, Alumni Relations.
  • Memorial– Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
  • Photo of RICHARD ALFRED IRELAND– Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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