Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission

Following the Armistice of 1918, various countries of the British Empire, including Canada, wanted to construct memorials on selected battlefields sites in honour of those who fought for their countries.

To determine which efforts of the Canadian Forces should be recognized with memorials, Canadian officers held a meeting which was lead by General Sir Arthur Currie. Following this meeting, the Battle Exploits Memorials Committee was formed in February 1919. The committee was formed in Great Britain, and Brigadier-General H.T. Hughes was appointed as Canada’s representative.

The committee submitted a proposal to the Government of Canada, which included their recommendations for memorials on battlefield sites in Europe. The proposal was passed on to a Special Committee of the House of Commons, which recommended the following:

• Eight memorials of a permanent character and worthy of the events commemorated should be erected at Vimy, Bourlon Wood, Le Quesnel, Dury and Courcelette in France and St. Julien, Hill 62 (Sanctuary Wood), Passchendaele in Belgium.
• that a competition in design, open to all Canadian architects, designers, sculptors and other artists should be held to determine the design or designs to be adopted.
• that the holding of the competition, selection of designs, letting of contracts and prosecution of the work generally could be best undertaken by a small honorary commission.

Following the recommendations from the Special Committee, the Battle Exploits Memorials Committee started planning for the construction of the Canadian memorials. Brigadier-General H.T. Hughes, who had already done a considerable amount of preliminary work, was made Chief Engineer for the whole project.

On September 2, 1920, the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission was established. Appointed to the Commission were:

• Major-General the Honourable Sidney C. Mewburn, C.M.G., K.C., M.P., Chairman;
• The Honourable Rodolphe Lemieux, K.C., M.P.;
• Lieutenant-General Sir R.E.W. Turner, V.C., K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O.;
• The Honourable J.G. Turriff;
• Colonel R.W. Leonard;
• Colonel H.C. Osborne, Honorary Secretary;
• Mr. P.E. Nobbs, M.A., F.R.I.B.A., R.C.A., Architectural Adviser.

The first meeting of the Commission was held on November 26, 1920, to discuss the process and conditions for holding a competition for memorial designs, which would be open to all Canadian architects, designers, sculptors and other artists.

After the competition was held, and the designs were selected, Brigadier-General H.T. Hughes was able to identify and acquire the land for eight memorial sites.

Newfoundland Memorials

The Newfoundland Memorials at Beaumont-Hamel, Gueudecourt, Monchy-le-Preux, and Masnières in France; and Courtrai in Belgium, were constructed for the government of Newfoundland between 1924 and 1925.

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Nangle was the Director of Graves Registration and Enquiry and Newfoundland’s representative on the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission. He played a leading role in selecting and developing the sites where the Newfoundland memorials stand, as well as supervising the construction of each memorial. The landscape architect was Mr. Rudolph H.K. Cochius, a native of Holland who was living in St. John’s, Newfoundland. There, he had been responsible for the lay-out of Bowring Park, the 200-acre historic park in the city’s West-end.

When Newfoundland’s officially became a part of Canada in 1949, the memorials became the responsibility of the Government of Canada.