Language selection


Search veterans.gc.ca

Canadian Pacific Railway Great War Tablet

Municipality/Province: Québec, QC

Memorial number: 24051-108

Type: Tablet - bronze

Address: 450 Gare du Palais Street

Location: Palais Train Station

GPS coordinates: Lat: 46.8172383   Long: -71.2136951

Submitted by: André Kirouac. Julie Fournier.

Photo credit: Tamra Thomson, Great War 100 Reads

The Canadian Pacific Railway Great War Tablet at the Du Palais CPR Station was dedicated on April 28, 1922. 

To honour those who served and gave their lives during the Great War, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) erected a series of bronze memorial tablets in over twenty select locations along their railway system and offices in Canada, United States, England and China. The tablet depicts Britannia, the national personification of Britain, as a helmeted female warrior with a lion to her right and a shield at her feet, HMS Lion (Admiral Beatty's flagship during the Battle of Jutland) with airplanes above and a tank in front, Canadian Pacific Steamship RMS Empress of Russia (used during the war as an armed merchant cruiser and transport ship), Canadian troops, and a CPR locomotive in a nod to all those who travelled by train across Canada before heading overseas. The plaque was designed by Archibald Pearce, Chief Engineer's Department, Montreal, with its model and casting by the Bromsgrove Guild at Worcester, England.

Original location Current location
CPR Office, Saint John, New Brunswick McAdam Railway Museum, McAdam, New Brunswick
Du Palais CPR Station, Quebec City, Quebec Du Palais CPR Station, Quebec City, Quebec
Viger Station, Montreal, Quebec Exporail, Montreal, Quebec
Windsor Station, Montreal, Quebec Windsor Station, Montreal, Quebec
Angus Shops, Montreal, Quebec CPKC Archives, Calgary, Alberta (in storage)
North Toronto Station, Toronto, Ontario Union Station, Toronto, Ontario
West Toronto Station, Toronto, Ontario unknown
North Bay Station, North Bay, Ontario North Bay Memorial Park, North Bay, Ontario
Fort William Union Station, Fort William, Ontario Thunder Bay Station, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Weston Shops, Winnipeg, Manitoba Weston Shops, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Saskatoon Station, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Thomas Cook Restaurant, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Moose Jaw Station, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Old Moose Jaw Station, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Regina Station, Regina, Saskatchewan Casino Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan
Calgary Station, Calgary, Alberta CPKC Headquarters, Calgary, Alberta
Calgary Natural Resources Building, Calgary, Alberta The Military Museums, Calgary, Alberta
Edmonton Station, Edmonton Alberta CPKC Archives, Calgary, Alberta (in storage)
Nelson Station, Nelson, British Columbia Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, Nelson, British Columbia
Vancouver Station, Vancouver, British Columbia unknown
Steamship Office, Victoria, British Columbia Royal British Columbia MuseumVictoria, British Columbia
CPR Office, New York, New York, United States Exporail, Montreal, Quebec
CPR Office, Liverpool, England Royal Liver Building, Liverpool, England
CPR Building, Charing Cross, London, England unknown
CPR Office, Hong Kong, China Believed destroyed during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War.

All tablets were unveiled simultaneously on the same date along with three identical Winged Victory memorials in Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.


Inscription found on memorial

THIS TABLET COMMEMORATES THOSE IN THE SERVICE
OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY WHO
AT THE CALL OF KING AND COUNTRY LEFT ALL THAT
WAS DEAR TO THEM, ENDURED HARDSHIP, FACED DANGER
AND FINALLY PASSED OUT OF SIGHT OF MEN BY THE
PATH OF DUTY AND SELF SACRIFICE, GIVING UP THEIR
OWN LIVES THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM.
LET THOSE WHO CAME AFTER SEE TO IT
THAT THEIR NAMES BE NOT FORGOTTEN.

1914 YPRES FESTUBERT THE SOME VIMY HILL 70
PASSCHEDAELE AMIENS CAMBRAI DROCOURT-QUEANT MONS 1918

Street view

Note

This information is provided by contributors and Veterans Affairs Canada makes it available as a service to the public. Veterans Affairs Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the information.

Date modified: