Alberta

Built October 20, 1920 by soldiers from the small mining town of Beverly, Alberta (now an Edmonton neighbourhood) who had returned from the First World War. Before the Royal Canadian Legion was formed the returning soldiers created the Beverly Veterans Institute. 

The Beverly Memorial Cenotaph, at the corner of 118th Avenue and 40th Street, is considered to be Alberta’s oldest modern war monument. Unveiled Oct. 17, 1920, less than two years after the end of the Great War, the monument honoured the 170 people from Beverly, then a coal-mining town of just 1,000 people, who had served in the war. The names of the 28 Beverly soldiers who died in the war are still etched into the granite pillar. Each year since, the park and Cenotaph has given a place for reflection for our military and community, as well as education for today’s youth from the local schools.  This Monument and park area was granted “historical status” with the City of Edmonton.

The Beverly Memorial Cenotaph Committee fundraised, and submitted grant applications with the help of Beverly Towne Community Development Society to revitalize the park and Cenotaph. Both organizations worked with the City of Edmonton to redesign an open park area and raise and update the plaques on the base of the Cenotaph commemorating Canada’s military engagements. New sidewalks, and park and Cenotaph lighting make the area safer for the public. It is important to express that without the generous donation of the Rotary Club of Edmonton Northeast for their Legacy Project, our Cenotaph would not be completed.

On June 26, 2018, the City of Edmonton's Naming Committee approved the name "Canadian Forces Trail" to a portion of 97 Street - a major coordiator that runs between Edmonton and the Garrison Military Base. 

On November 4th, Councillor Jon Dziadyk (who proposed the idea and made the original submission) unveiled the new signs with Edmonton's Mayor Don Iveson and various military personnel. 

Northern Lights Cemetery, which is surrounded by oak trees, features a Vimy Wall of Remembrance in memory of our military veterans. Some of the funeral plaques, which families purchased and the city had installed in the cemetery, date back to the 1980s. This north Edmonton cemetery was unofficially known as Sturgeon Cemetery before being named Sturgeon Heights Memorial Park in 1986. In 1987, it was renamed Northern Lights Cemetery.

On one side of the Wall of Remembrance, there is space for funeral plaques to be erected in what looks like two pages of a giant book.  On the other side of the Wall, there is a battlefield scene featuring a serviceman holding his helmet at a military grave marked with a bayonet and helmet. The serviceman stands in the middle of two tanks, two ships, underneath three airplanes and three bombs. There are plaques on stones along the walkway.

Seven funeral plaques were stolen from the military memorial section of the Northern Lights Cemetery sometime between July 3 and 6, 2018. The thefts were reported to Edmonton Police Services July 7, 2018. The plaques were removed off the back monument and stones along the walkway.

This street commemorates those who fought at Arras in the First World War.

This cairn on the grounds of the Legislature Building is dedicated to all Korean War veterans, in particular the Albertans killed in action during the Korean War (1950-1953). The cairn was unveiled when the Korea Veterans Association held their national reunion in Edmonton in 1991.

Edmund Wright designed the Great War Veterans Association Memorial Hall 1918-19. The Memorial Hall remembered comrades who gave up their lives during WWI. The building was demolished.

A sculpted triple V monument detailing a brief role and history of the Northwest and Yukon Terrorties Radio System and the importance it played in the develpoment of the north and to its population. In additon to the direct support to the polulace and develpoment of Canada's north, the names of soldiers,signallers and civilians who lost their lives during their employment within the Radio System are emblazoned on the monument.

Further details can be found at folllowing link:

www.rcsigs/index.php/NWT_and_Y_Radio_System_Memorial

The Memorial Chapel and hall, 1950-5, commemorates the dead from both World Wars. The stained glass memorial windows in the chapel were made by R. McCausland.

Pilot Officer Allen Stuart MacDonald born 1918, lost at sea, April 1945 erected by his family and in memory of Flight Lt High Munro Hope born 1918 kia Feb 22 1945 and in loving memory of their fallen comrades.

Major-General Griesbach School is named in honour of Major-General Griesbach. The school was originally attended by the children of military families stationed at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton, but is now a part of the Edmonton Public School Board. A new school, retaining the name, was opened on September 4, 2012, and is situated near the former school.

William Antrobus Griesbach was born in 1878 in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan and moved to Edmonton with his family in 1883, graduating from St. John’s College in Winnipeg in 1895. He enlisted in the Canadian Mounted rifles in 1899 to fight in the Second Boer War and was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with four bars. Upon his return in 1901, he opened a law office and was successfully elected to Edmonton Town Council in 1904. He tried his hand at federal politics in 1905, but returned to municipal politics and was elected mayor of Edmonton in 1906.

In 1906, Griesbach was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 19^th Alberta Dragoons. He was promoted to captain in 1907. When the First World War began, the Dragoons volunteered as a unit. In December of that year, Griesbach was promoted to major and assigned to command the 49^th Battalion. The unit served in various engagements, including the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Battle of Arras, the Third Battle of Ypres, and the liberation of Mons. In 1917, Griesbach was promoted to Brigadier-General and assigned command of the 1^st Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 1^st Canadian Division. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order twice and the Victorian Decoration for long service. He was also made a Companion of the Order of Bath, and a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. During the Second World War. He was made Inspector General of the Canadian Army for Western Canada and was promoted to the rank of Major-General. He retired from that position in 1943 and died in 1945.

Bailey Bridge was dedicated by the Canada Lands Company as part of their redevelopment of Edmonton’s former Canadian Forces Base (Griesbach Barracks).

The Bailey Bridge was developed during the Second World War by engineer Donald Bailey, who worked in the British War Office. In 1940 Bailey presented a unique idea to his chiefs and was encouraged to explore it further. By 1941, it was put into large-scale production for the Allied attack on the European mainland. The highly adaptable bridge was installed under a number of different and challenging situations and was credited as one of the key pieces of equipment to contribute to the liberation of Europe.

The Royal Canadian Engineers started training on the Bailey Bridge in England in June 1942 and Royal Canadian Engineers field units started receiving their equipment in August 1943. The first Bailey bridge built by Canadians in operations was in Sicily that same month.  As the war progressed, the Allies erected some 4,500 Bailey bridges.

Some 50 years after its introduction, the Bailey Bridge was withdrawn from use in the Canadian Forces, to be replaced by the Armoured Vehicle Launched Bridge, the Medium Girder Bridge and the Medium Floating Bridge.