Manitoba

A monument to honour Civil Air Search and Rescue Association volunteers and Military aircrew who lost their lives since the formation of CASARA in 1986, was unveiled in May 1997, at Heritage Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba during the “Manitoba Flood of the Century”. The site is located across the road from the military air force building known as 1 Canadian Air Division Headquarters (Air Com). A bronze plaque on the monument lists the names of the CASARA spotters and military aircrew who lost their lives in June 1986 during the crash of a military SAR Twin Otter while on search in the Kananaskis Valley area. It also lists the names of those killed in a CASARA aircraft that crashed while on search 10 years later in July 1996. The guest of honour for the unveiling was the Honourable Yvonne Dumont, then Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba.

North Centennial Recreation and Leisure Facility in Point Douglas was renamed Sergeant Tommy Prince Place in March 2017. Veterans, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and other dignitaries took part in a ceremony to honour Thomas George "Tommy" Prince.

Sergeant Tommy Prince was a prominent Anishinaabe activist who served in the Second World War and Korean War. His story is one of the most widely known examples of the wartime contributions of Indigenous soldiers in the mid-20^th century and the poor treatment they received upon their return to civilian life in Canada. His accomplishments attracted national media attention during his lifetime and earned him a great many posthumous tributes.

Prince was born in October 1915 in St. Peter's Reserve, Manitoba. He was the great-grandson of respected Ojibwa Chief Peguis, and one of eleven children born to Elizabeth and Henry Prince. In 1920, they moved to Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Scanterbury, Manitoba. At age five, Prince was forced to leave his community and attend Elkhorn Residential School, where he joined the Cadet Corps. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from the residential school before he joined the military.

In 1940, he volunteered to fight for Canada in the Second World War. He rose from sapper to lance corporal with the Royal Canadian Engineers before volunteering for the 1^st Canadian Parachute Battalion in 1942. Soon after, he was assigned to the elite 1^st Canadian Special Service Battalion, which was attached to the First Special Service Force (Devil’s Brigade). He reached the rank of sergeant by war’s end, and was one of three Canadians to receive both the Silver Star (United States) and the Military Medal. King George VI presented him with both honours during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1945, shortly before Prince’s discharge from the army. 

He wanted to prove his people were as good as any white man and restore their good name. One way to achieve this was to acquire as many medals as possible and he did so without putting his men at risk. Before any patrols he would ensure they were camouflaged and everything was secured. Often he would patrol alone because there would be less noise. Prince was a natural warrior and he excelled as the military developed the skills he learned on the reserve while living off the land. He loved the Devil's Brigade and was always praising his men, "If it wasn't for my men, I wouldn't be who I am today." He was a caring man who loved to joke around and make people laugh.

He was a prominent leader in the Indigenous rights movement of the 1940s. After the war, he served as spokesperson and vice-president of the Manitoba Indian Association, and appeared on its behalf before a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons, tasked with studying the Indian Act. During his testimony in 1947, he advocated for the abolition of the Indian Act and respect for existing treaties, and presented submissions from Indigenous in Manitoba, which called for improved schools, better living conditions, and expanded hunting, trapping, and fishing rights.

In 1950, Prince re-enlisted in the Korean War. He contributed to the defence of Hill 677 in the Battle of Kapyong in 1951, for which the United States awarded the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry the Distinguished Unit Citation—the only time a Canadian unit has received this honour. Military service took a heavy toll on his health and, following his honourable discharge from the army, he faced a difficult return to civilian life in Manitoba. Prince endured discrimination, illness, and poverty in the years that followed and died in 1977. He fought many demons after residential school and the horrors of combat, but he never lost his humility, self-worth, sense of humour and pride of being Anishinaabe. 

The 2006 year of the veteran mural was painted by Charlie Johnson. It considers children from Central School, who graduated and served as soldier, sailor, pilot or nurse. The mural depicts the HMCS Trancona and a Sherman tank.

The mural by Dave Carty features WWI ace William Stephenson with 3 of the 5 Sopwith camels he flew - B7302, C8296 & D6476. He was in charge of intelligence in the western hemisphere, working out of the 36th floor of Rockefeller Centre.

The "Prairie Sailor" statue is dedcated to the exception number of prairie men who fought in the Battle of the Atlantic during WWII and all from the prairies who have served Canada at Sea. With over 300 officers and 8,000 other ranks having been recruited and initially trained onboard HMCS CHIPPAWA (making it the third largest naval wartime recuitment center only exceeded by those on either coast) it was deemed appropriate to erect a statue on the site of the present day CHIPPAWA.

The statue was created by Helen Granger Young, a noted Manitoba sculptress who is the widow of a wartime "prairie sailor."

The statue depicts a sailor in WWII uniform sitting on a bollard with his kit bag at his side.

The statue was a project of the Naval Museum of Manitoba and was funded by The Friends of the Naval Museum Inc.

The statue was dedicated on Battle of the Atlantic Sunday, May 4, 2014.

Honour Rolls to First Lutheran Church members who served in both world wars, located in the nathex of First Lutheran Church, Winnipeg

Memorial plaque to Lt Thomas L Brandson in the narthex of First Lutheran Church, Winnipeg

Wolseley Expedition Plaque (2009)

The memorial commemorates the 1870 Wolseley Expedition. Led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley of the British Army, the force consisted of about 800 workers and voyageurs, 417 British regulars, and 783 Ontario and Quebec militiamen. Denied access to American railways, Colonel Wolseley’s contingent took two full months to complete the arduous journey from Thunder Bay to the Winnipeg River. On 24 August 1870, he took command of Upper Fort Garry, which had been vacated recently by Louis Riel and his followers. The presence of Wolseley’s volunteers heightened the already strained political, cultural, and religious tensions in Red River society. Many militiamen remained in Manitoba and were followed by other Protestant Ontarians. Their numbers changed the balance of the French and English-speaking population and led to a Manitoba which reflected many of Ontario’s social and political structures.

General Wolfe School, a junior high school for grades 7, 8, and 9, is named in honour of Major General James Peter Wolfe.

Major General James Peter Wolfe (January 1727 – September 1759) is known chiefly for his victory at the Battle of Quebec in 1759. The son of a distinguished general, Wolfe was destined for a military career, entering his father’s 1^st Marine Regiment at the age of thirteen. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) as well as in Flanders and in Scotland in 1746. The advancement of his career was halted by the Peace Treaty of 1748 and he spent much of the next eight years in garrison duty in the Scottish Highlands. Already a major at the age of eighteen, he was a lieutenant-colonel by the age of twenty-three.

The outbreak of the Seven Years’ War in 1756 offered Wolfe fresh opportunities for advancement. His part in the raid on Rochefort in 1757 led to his appointment as second-in-command of an expedition to capture the Fortress of Louisbourg. Following the success of the Siege of Louisbourg he was made commander of a force which sailed up the Saint Lawrence River to capture Quebec City. After a lengthy siege, Wolfe captured the city. Wolfe was killed at the height of the battle due to injuries from three musket balls.

This memorial, in memory of Cecil H.J. Johnson who had died at Hong Kong in December 1941, was donated by his widow.

Cecil Henry Johnson was a medical non-combatant with the Winnipeg Grenadiers in Hong Kong. After being captured by the Japanese army, the soldiers were walked to the internment camp and a soldier in front of Private Johnson tripped and fell. Johnson stopped to tend to him and their captors shot and killed both men. After the Second World War ended, the members of his battalion melted down their combat medals to create an award commemorating Private Johnson’s actions for his family.

The two window panels represent the last stage in the story of Jesus's life. Depicted on the left panel: The Women Come to the Tomb, when they found it empty. The window's bottom panel has the Coat of Arms of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, Private Johnson’s regiment. Depicted on the right panel: The Emmaus Road, one of the early resurrection appearances of Jesus after the crucifixion. The window's bottom panel has the Shield from the Coat of Arms of Canada, with green maple leaves, which were changed to red in 1957. The two window panels were the first to be installed after the Memorial Altar Window.