Hedley Cenotaph
Municipality/Province: Hedley, BC
Memorial number: 59016-028
Type: Obelisk
Address: Scott Avenue and Webster Street
GPS coordinates: Lat: 49.3590224 Long: -120.076696
Submitted by: Jennifer Douglass. Hedley Museum.
The Hedley Cenotaph was built between August and December 1919 and unveiled on December 14, 1919. The local newspaper reported intentions to mount machine guns with the cenotaph, but this never happened. The town of Hedley gave much during the First World War in terms of time, money and lives. The Hedley women knitted socks and other comforts for the men at the front and the work force as a whole, at both the mine and the stamp mill, contributed weekly into a Patriotic Fund that provided additional income for the troops and their dependents. By the war’s end so many Hedley men had been killed or wounded and the money grew into a significant sum. The money was distributed to the surviving Veterans and $1,000 set aside to build a monument to the fallen. A war monument committee was formed, chaired by Lieutenant Tom Knowles, with Captain Alec Jack and Private Joe Rotherham, all from the 54th Kootenay Battalion and part of a group of 17 men who volunteered together from Hedley in August of 1915.
Six of the men on the cenotaph are from the 54th Kootenay Battalion and of those, five were from the original group of 17 who signed up together. When these 17 men left Hedley on August 24, 1915, they gathered at the exact location of the future cenotaph and had a group photo taken. There was a big send-off. All the townspeople gathered, the children were let out of school and the town brass band played. The recruits left Hedley in a caravan of vehicles draped with banners which read, "Recruits from Hedley, the Machine Gun Town."
Through the years the cenotaph has stayed in its same spot. Originally surrounded by railings, these were eventually removed after one too many car crashes endangered the monument, and a sturdy stone wall was built. A bronze plaque was later added at the base of the cenotaph with four names from the Second World War. On August 26, 2017, the Hedley Cenotaph was re-dedicated after restoration work in June 2017, to restore the lead lettering and add the names of two more men from Hedley who were killed in the First World War. Hedley residents, Jennifer Douglass and Andy English, devoted approximately three and a half years researching the names on the cenotaph and discovered the two names that should have been included. Repairs to the cenotaph were completed by stonemason Andrew Swinley.
Inscription found on memorial
[front/devant]
Carving in relief of a maple leaf reading - KOOTENAY OVERSEAS BATTALION 54, B.C. CANADA
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF THE
HEDLEY BOYS
WHO FELL IN THE WAR
1914 - 1918
[plaque]
1939 - 1945
CPL. JAMES ANGLIN
CAN. SCOTTISH
CPL ERNEST CLUE
B. C. DRAGOONS
LIEUT. ART. FRENCH
SEARFORTHS
F.O. WALT MATTHEWS
R.C.A.F.
[right side/côté droit]
PTE. CHAS. CHRISTIANA
15TH CAN. INF. BN.
PTE. ARTHUR COLES
2ND C.M.R.
PTE. SYD. EDWARDS
15TH CAN. INF. BN.
PTE. JACK LORENZETTO
25TH CAN. INF. BN.
PTE. THOS. CALVERT
H.Q. STAFF.
PTE. JOHN W. MCLINTOCK
11TH CAN. RR. BN.
[left side/côté gauche]
SGT. A. P. MARTIN
L.CPL. B. W. MILLS
PTE. ROD. MACDOUGALL
PTE. R. W. ROBERTSON
PTE. B. A. SCHUBERT
OF THE 54TH CAN. INF. BN.
KILLED IN ACTION
PTE. E. W. VANS
54TH CAN. INF. BN
DIED ON SERVICE
L.CPL. WM. H. HENDERSON
102ND BN.
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: