Brampton Cenotaph
Municipality/Province: Brampton, ON
Memorial number: 35006-003
Type: Pillar - Canadian grey granite
Address: 2 Wellington Street West
Location: Memorial Square, beside City Hall
GPS coordinates: Lat: 43.6844946 Long: -79.7585753
Submitted by: R.K. (Bob) Post. City of Brampton.
Photo credit: Tim Laye, Ontario War Memorials
The Brampton Cenotaph was built on land "re-claimed" from the old Etobicoke Creek and paid for by donations of the citizens and businesses of Brampton. It was designed by Toronto architect Mackenzie Waters and its unveiling by Governor General Lord Willingdon on July 4, 1928, was attended by thousands. In June of 1931, the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire presented to the Town of Brampton, a mast and Union Jack to be flown over the monument. A vault in the front of the edifice bears the official crest of the old Town of Brampton and inside are the names of the men and women of Brampton who died, or were killed, in the service of their country.
The symbols expressed on the cenotaph are Service, Sacrifice and Victory. The ornamentation is Roman. Rising in easy steps from a broad and ample base, the die stones bear a projecting tablet. Above is a bronze plaque bearing the crest of the Town of Brampton and above that, carved in perfect relief, is the National Emblem, the Maple Leaf, on each side of which are graceful scrolls. Behind the bronze plaque is a crypt in which is placed a book recording the names and service of those who made the Supreme Sacrifice, and the Wreath of Victory, from which ribbons fall.
The cenotaph expresses a symbol of Service in a gradual rise from the level of inaction through service and sacrifice to great achievement rewarded by the Wreath of Victory. Prior to the cenotaph, Remembrance Day Services were held in the various churches in Brampton and in the Armouries, starting in the year 1919.
The memorial committee consisted of: T. Duggan - Chairman, R. Lowry, R. Conover - Secretary, J. Patterson, F. Wegenast - Mayor, L. Bertram, G. Akehurst - Councillor, H. Campkin, W. Beatty - Reeve, W. Sharpe, N. Powell, W. Brydon, C. Donaldson, J. Conover, D. Heggie, C. McDonald, D. Bull. Members Of The Town Council F. Wegenast - Mayor, W. Bartlett, W. Beatty - Reeve, W. Speirs, J. Harmsworth - Deputy-Reeve, H. Heatley, W. Warr and J. McLaughlin.
The dates for the Second World War and Korean War were added later.
Inscription found on memorial
[front/devant]
1914
1915
YPRES
FESTUBERT
MOUNT SORRELL
SOMME
[tablet/plaque]
TO PERPETUATE
THE MEMORY OF
OUR GLORIOUS DEAD
AND TO
GRATEFULLY RECOGNIZE
THE SACRIFICE OF
THE MEN OF BRAMPTON
IN THE GREAT WAR
1914 — 1918
AND
1939 — 1945
KOREA 1950 - 1953
[left side/côté gauche]
CAMBRAI
MONS
[back/arrière]
THESE THOUGHT NOT OF SELF
BUT GAVE THEIR LIVES
FOR US
[left side/ôté droit]
AMIENS
ARRAS
Street view
Note
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