Ontario

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 Prince Barracks in CFB Petawawa are named in his memory.

This monument, based on a Bailey Bridge panel, commemorates the 40th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the members of 2 CER's predecessor units.

The Town of Petawawa has commemorated 2 Combat Engineer Regiment's local work on the Millennium Trail, part of the Trans-Canada Trail, by unveiling a monument based on a Bailey Bridge panel. The monument recognizes the Regiment's work on the 1.5 km section of the trail that passes through the Town of Petawawa and a nearby panel further explains the Regiment's contributions to the trail and other projects.

This memorial was unveiled in memory of the members of 2 Combat Engineer Regiment (2 CER) who died while serving in the Former Yugoslavia. 

Christopher Gregory Holopina was born in October 1973 in Russell, Manitoba. In March 1995, he joined the military and upon completion of his sapper training, was posted to 2 CER. In December 1995, he deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina. On 4 July 1996, Sapper Holopina's section was called out to help rescue a group of British soldiers who were stranded in a minefield. While travelling to the task site, the armoured vehicle he was riding in, rolled over into a ravine while trying to avoid an accident near Ripac. Sapper Holopina died as a result of this accident and is buried at the Shell Valley (St. John’s) Cemetery in Russell.

Gilles Joseph Stephan Desmarais was born in Sudbury in June 1975. Gilles joined the militia as an infantryman in 1993 before transferring to the Regular Force in April 1995 as a sapper. Following completion of his trades training, he was posted to  2 CER and deployed to Bosnia. This was followed by a second tour to Bosnia in 1998. Sapper Desmarais was killed on 25 September 1998, while working on a construction project at the Canadian camp at Zgon, Bosnia-Herzegovina. He is buried at the Noelville Cemetery, near Sudbury.

This plaque was erected by officers in memory of the Royal Canadian Dragoons who lost their lives during the South African War.

This access gate is named in honour of John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, a former member of 2nd Field Company, Canadian Engineers, and one of the pilots conducting the first military powered aircraft flight in Canada. 

John Alexander Douglas McCurdy was born in Baddeck, NS on 2 August 1886. He attended St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, ON and graduated from the University of Toronto in mechanical engineering in 1906. During his studies at U of T, he joined 2^nd Field Company, Canadian Engineers, before working with Alexander Graham Bell on the development of powered aircraft. In July-August 1909, he and colleague F.W. Baldwin assembled the Silver Dart and Baddeck I at Camp Petawawa and proceeded to conduct a number of demonstration flights. McCurdy continued his work with Bell’s Aerial Experiment Association and opened Canada’s first aviation school in 1915. He helped create Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd. In 1916, producing planes for the Royal Flying Corps. He continued his involvement in airplane production throughout the inter-war years and the Second World War and in 1947 was appointed the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. McCurdy died in 1961, following a lengthy illness, and was buried in his native Baddeck, NS.

The Silver Dart, a monument in CFB Petawawa, is in memory of the first military demonstration of powered aircraft flight in Canada that was given at Camp Petawawa on 2 August 1909 by J.A.D. McCurdy and F.W. Baldwin in the Silver Dart. Both pilots, former members of the 2nd Field Company, Toronto and Engineers of No 8 Engineer Services and Works Company, acted as the ‘ground crew.’

Today, an access gate separating the domestic area from the military part of the Base is called McCurdy Gate to further remember one of the pilots. (Also refer to memorial number 35070-039)

This memorial is dedicated to the brave men and women of Murchison and Lyell Townships who served in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War. It was unveiled October 8, 2005, by the Murchison and Lyell Cenotaph Committee.

This memorial is dedicated to the locals who died during the First and Second World Wars. It was erected by Bagot and Blythfield Centennial Committee in 1967.

This memorial is dedicated to the Officers, NCO's and men who served at Petawawa Military Camp and died for their country in the Second World War.