British Columbia

The Salmo Community Memorial Church was built in 1952. Construction commenced in the summer of 1949 and it was completed by Christmas 1952. The Salmo Ladies’ Aid initiated the drive and raised the first funds as early as 1937.

Not only was it constructed as a place to worship, but its was dedicated to the memory of local men who were killed in the Second World War. Every year on the Sunday before Remembrance Day, the Honour Roll of fallen soldiers from Salmo Valley is read. The names and photos of these young men can be seen in the church on the Remembrance Wall.

Erected in 1989 by the village of Kaslo, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 74, this memorial is dedicated to local veterans.

The Kaslo Cenotaph was originally erected in 1922 to honour the men who fell during the First World War. Later, additions were made for those who fell in the Second World War and Korean War.

This memorial was erected by Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 74. It was constructed in 1992 in honour of veterans of Vimy Ridge.

The Grand Forks Cenotaph was constructed in 1921 in memory of those who sacrificed their lives in the First World War. The polished grey granite Cenotaph was constructed by Alexander Ritchie, Campbell & Ritchie Mon. Co., in Nelson, British Columbia. Dedications to those who sacrificed their lives in the Second World War and the Korean Conflict were also added. The names of those who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars are inscribed on the Cenotaph.

This memorial is dedicated to those who served in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War. It was erected by the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch No. 196, in 1955, to replace an old one erected in 1946. The committee included Doug Hames, Bud Smith, Jack Startup, and Frank Kalusik.

Excerpt from the Cominco Magazine, November 1955:

THEY WILL NOT FORGET: FRUITVALE DEDICATES A NEW CENOTAPH A simple cenotaph stands on the outskirts of Fruitvale. Nearby, stately trees mount guard, their branches raised as though in salute to the fallen heroes which it honours. The neatly gravelled approach, concrete base and fieldstone upright look fresh and new to the passer-by. They are new. The cenotaph was unveiled September 25 as hundreds gathered to see the red ensign fall away and to hear the solemn words of dedication. It was a sunny afternoon. Gentle breezes in the branches overhead set in motion a flickering fretwork of light and shadow on the little park. Along the highway they came – the people of Fruitvale and others, from Trail and Salmo, from Nelson and Castlegar … and beyond. They came quietly, reverently. The stirring sound of bagpipes heralded the parade. Behind the Balmoral Pipe Band marched servicemen, veterans, and many more … Canadian Legion ladies, Scouts, Cubs, Guides, Brownies and those to whom that day held special meaning; relatives of the men named in bronze on the cenotaph itself. Following words from the Scriptures and a prayer, the Chairman of Fruitvale’s Village Commissioners, C. Haines, stepped forward. Briefly he told of the cenotaph’s history, the thoughts behind its erection. Then he drew the red ensign aside and Legion Branch Padre, Reverend W. Edington, a hand laid on the unveiled stone, pronounced its dedication. F. M. Smith read the roll call of those who fell in two World Wars. Two wreaths were laid; the first, for the mothers of sons fallen, by Mrs. T. Wood and the second, for the Fruitvale Branch of the Canadian Legion, by D. C. T. Haines in his capacity as President. A bugler sent the sad notes of the Last Post echoing across the valley as the Colour Guard dipped their colours. A joyous Reveille sounded the end of two minutes silence. There was more to the ceremony, including an address by the Padre. But perhaps the most impressive moment of all came when, with one voice, the crowd joined in singing the hymn, “O! Valiant Hearts.” “…Tranquil you lie, your Knightly virtue proved, Your memory hallowed in the land you loved… No, they will not forget their fallen…in Fruitvale!

The Edgewood Great War Veterans’ Association was formed in October of 1919. A special meeting was held where J. P. Coates presented plans for a monument to honour the men of the area who had lost their lives in the First World War. In February 1920, permission was granted to build the monument at Valley Road and Edgewood Avenue.

Stone mason, J.N. McLeod, cut the granite for the monument from a local rock cliff and with the help of brick layer, Frank Warner, it was built that fall. Mountain ash, maple and chestnut trees were planted along the streets in 1921, as another gesture towards the fallen.

Forty-two years later the monument was moved to Lakeshore Avenue, the new Edgewood Townsite. Every stone was numbered as it was taken out, and replaced in exactly the same order.

Erected in the 1950s by the village of Castlegar, this memorial is dedicated to the local war dead. Originally located at 5th Street and 11th Avenue, it was moved to its current location in the mid-1970s and was refurbished in 1997.

This memorial was sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch No. 11. It was presented to the City of Trail in a ceremony held on 11 November 1951, prior to the annual Remembrance Day service. The Royal Canadian Legion committee that administrated the project consisted of: Albert King (Chair) F.E. (Buddy) DeVito (Vice Chair) J.W. Evan (Vice Chair) Mrs. P. Wolfe (Secretary) O.J. Wilson (Member) Charles Conry (Member) The Legion solicited public donations and received the following support: Cash, including corporate and organization donations totalled $932.50. Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. Donated the cement for the base, technical expertise and the bronze work. The City of Trail covered half of the cost of the stone work. D.B. Merry, a building supplier, and Trail Mercantile, a retail store, covered the cost of construction materials. Sharp & Thompson & Berwick & Pratt Architects donated the plans. The memorial consists of a stone and masonry shaft on a cement base surrounded by lawn and curbing. Lights illuminate the tower at night. A flagpole is located in the front lawn area. Bronze plaques with the names of the war dead from the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War are attached to the tower. The memorial is used for the City’s annual Remembrance Day service and for special Legion functions or ceremonies.

George Henry Corbett’s parents came to Canada in 1914 and settled in Saskatchewan, where he was born on November 4, 1919. Around his tenth birthday, the family moved to Oak Bay, British Columbia, and it was in this small coastal community that he graduated from high school in 1935.

An avid builder of model aircraft and possessing a keen interest in flying, Corbett took advantage of a family holiday to England to apply to the de Havilland Aircraft Company’s Aeronautical Technical School at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Even with a busy schedule studying aircraft design and manufacture, he found the time to join the Royal Air Force (RAF) Volunteer Reserve in November 1937. Two years later, with his studies nearly complete, Corbett was visiting family in British Columbia when Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. He immediately returned to England and the RAF.

After completing his training at No. 9 Advanced Flying Training School, he was posted to No. 7 Operational Training Unit at Hawarden, Cheshire, on July 7, 1940. This unit focused on one thing and one thing only: the training of Spitfire fighter pilots. A combination of personal talent and operational need meant that Corbett’s stay was short; on July 26, the young Canadian found himself reporting to No. 66 Squadron at Coltishall, Norfolk.

The squadron had already engaged the Luftwaffe in the skies above Dunkirk and was ready to “have a go at Jerry” over home turf. Although Corbett participated in a number of combat patrols, his first true combat experience came on September 9, 1940, and it was not a pleasant experience. Dodging often heavy rain showers, Pilot Officer Corbett was part of a group attacking German bombers, escorted by enemy fighters, intent on attacking London. After already damaging a Messerschmitt 109, he was positioning his aircraft for a rear attack on a bomber when he was bounced by three German fighters. With the cockpit filling with smoke and the controls jammed, he found himself in a severely damaged, uncontrolled aircraft plummeting toward the ground in a tight spiral dive. At 12,000 feet (3,658 metres), the Canadian pilot bailed out, suffering a slight injury in the process.

Corbett quickly returned to the fray, and on September 27 he and his squadron mates intercepted German bombers attacking London. In the midst of heavy British defensive fire from anti-aircraft guns below, he got a quick burst into one bomber before breaking off the attack and leaving the damaged enemy aircraft to other RAF fighters. He then selected a lone Junkers 88 as his next target, closed to within yards of the German aircraft, and opened fired. The enemy aircraft fell away, its port engine burning fiercely, but the smoke was so thick that Corbett had to break off the attack.

He had little time to enjoy his victory because his Spitfire was damaged by friendly fire when an artillery shell burst nearby, destroying one elevator and riddling the fuselage and starboard wing with shrapnel. He skillfully executed a forced landing in the London district of Orpington, emerging from his damaged but repairable Spitfire with a new-found respect for anti-aircraft gunners and a Junkers 88 claimed as destroyed. Two London bobbies who came to his assistance had witnessed the combat, and confirmed Corbett’s claim.

More combat followed, but this young man who had survived being shot down twice would not be so lucky the third time. On October 8, 1940, Pilot Officer Corbett, wearing a new watch sent by his parents as a 21st birthday gift, was climbing with his squadron to intercept yet another formation of German raiders when they were surprised by a large number of Messerschmitt 109s. In a slashing attack, Corbett and one other 66 Squadron pilot were shot down near Bayford Marches, Upchurch; neither pilot survived. Pilot Officer George Corbett was 20 years old.

According to Mike Gunnill, a freelance writer in the United Kingdom, on that day the Reverend William Joseph Wright was at his church, St. Margaret of Antioch, and witnessed the dogfight. When the Pilot Officer Corbett’s aircraft crashed, the clergyman ran to the site, hoping to provide assistance. But “…it was clear, due to the bullet damage around the cockpit, that George Corbett had been killed instantly before the crash. [Wright] offered prayers and a blessing, and stayed until the body was recovered. The pilot’s own parachute was used as a shroud.”

Back in Oak Bay, in a cruel twist of fate that often happens in wartime, Pilot Officer Corbett’s mother, Mabel, received a letter from her son days after being officially informed that he had been killed. Gunnill notes that the young Canadian tried to comfort his family’s fears in a letter that made light of his two earlier brushes with death, and explained the importance of what he was part of.

Corbett wrote, “Having got out OK, my confidence has tremendously increased and I want you to be confident also. We’re seeing plenty of action here every day and I’ll be back in the fight tomorrow. The Jerries are a long way from getting supremacy in the air, and until they get it, there’ll be no invasion.”

Pilot Officer Corbett’s sacrifice touched people on two continents.

In Canada, his family commissioned a stained glass window in St. Mary the Virgin Anglican church in Oak Bay. The window depicts Pilot Officer Corbett in his Royal Air Force uniform. He wears a life preserver and clutches a flying helmet and earphones, and gazes upward at an image depicting the Ascension, when, the Bible teaches, Jesus rose to Heaven following his crucifixion. Two human feet and the hem of a white robe appear in the window's upper portion. These suggest that Christ awaits him, on sacred ground. The colours of white, green, blue and yellow throughout symbolize purity, freedom, hope and love, respectively. This tribute is the work of Celtic Studios. On the Sunday closest to Battle of Britain Day (September 15), a single rose is placed beneath Pilot Officer Corbett’s window.

An ocean away, in St. Mary the Virgin churchyard at Upchurch, Kent, where Pilot Officer Corbett is buried, a community tends to the young Canadian’s gravesite, remembering a life freely given so many years ago.

In an email, Mike Gunnill related a quick anecdote that underlines the shared bond that individuals such as Corbett created. “As a resident [of Upchurch], I walked through the churchyard yesterday,” he wrote. “I went past [Pilot Officer] Corbett’s grave and there was another resident standing there talking to him. He explained that he came often, just for a chat. ‘Please don’t think I am mad,’ he said, ‘I just enjoy my visits.’”