Ontario

This plaque is dedicated to the members of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church who served during the First World War.

This brass cross is dedicated to the memory of Private Alexander Gray, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Alexander Louis Gray was born on January 30, 1932 in Carmen, Manitoba. Son of Dr. Reverend Albert Gray and Mary Gray, he graduated from Lisgar Collegiate Institute in Ottawa. He enlisted on January 31, 1953 and was serving with the 3^rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Korea, when he was killed in action on April 16, 1953. He is buried at the United Nations Cemetery in Busan, South Korea.

This plaque is dedicated to the ministry of Major the Reverend Sam Wigston. It was unveiled in October 1998 by the Chaplain General of the Canadian Forces.

This plaque is dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant John Douglas Armstrong, Canadian Engineers.

Lieutenant Armstrong was the son of the Rev. Dr. W. D. Armstrong and Mrs. Armstrong of Ottawa. He studied civil engineering at McGill University and in his senior year was president of the Undergraduate Society. He worked first with the Dominion Bridge Company, and then the Surveyor General’s staff. Lieut. Armstrong was well known in Ottawa musical circles, a member of St. Andrew’s Church choir for two years, and rowed with the Britannia Rowing Club.

Prior to his enlistment in January 1916, Lieut. Armstrong was an Engineer with the 34^th Field Company of the Militia. He received his commission in January 1916, trained through the winter at Lansdowne Park, and went overseas in May 1916 with the Canadian Engineers. Mentioned in dispatches, Lieut. Armstrong and Lieut. Alan Johnston were the only two members of the company to come through the Somme offensive unscathed. At 27, he was killed in action at Vimy Ridge on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917. He is buried at Villers Station Cemetery.

This brass plaque is dedicated to the members of Eastern Methodist Church who served during the First World War.

This memorial is an artillery cannon, located at Beechwood Cemetery.

The window, titled “Hope in a Broken World” was donated by the Canadian Military Chaplains Association. It stands as a grateful tribute to the faithful ministry of Canadian Military Chaplains, past and present. From the eternal ruggedness of the rock, and the brokenness, which derives from war and conflict, springs a tree of life bathed in the glorious light of the Almighty’s love and compassion. Various images in this window illustrate the ministry of those chaplains called to service of God and Canada.

At the bottom of the window is Saint Martin of Tours, a patron Saint, he is off his horse and giving a beggar half of his cloth. The thorns around them symbolize pain and sorrow. Above are images of men and women who represent the Canadian Forces over the decades.

The “Rock” is rugged and symbolizes the conflict of war. From the rock springs a tree of life (Hope in a Broken World), bathed in the love and light of God’s tenderness and mercy.

Below the tree, a chaplain is ministering to a dying soldier. The illustration was inspired by the photo of Chaplain H/Captain Robert Seaborn of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, giving absolution to an unidentified soldier of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division near Caen, France, 15 July 1944. (Lieut. H. Gordon Aikman, Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada, PA-142245.)

There are four images representing Army, Air force, Navy (a burial at sea) and the repatriation of the Unknown Soldier (Canadian National Vimy Memorial in the background). The mourning figure is known as Canada Bereft, head bowed in sorrow, she provides a powerful representation of Canada, a young nation grieving her dead.

This memorial is the granite monument located at Beechwood Cemetery.

This granite monument is the main memorial located at Beechwood Cemetery. Beechwood is the site of the National Military Cemetery, established through a partnership between Commonwealth War Graves Commission Canadian Agency, Veterans Affairs Canada, Department of National Defence, and Beechwood.

Established in 1873, Beechwood was designed as a 19^th century rural cemetery following the prohibition of burials within town limits. The western part of Section 29 was established as a military cemetery by the Soldiers’ Aid Commission and Department of Militia and Defence in 1918, and the majority of First World War dead are buried here, including several who were moved from single lots throughout the cemetery in 1922. Section 29 continued to be used for First World War veterans and later for war dead and veterans of the Second World War. War dead from the Second World War were also buried in Section 27 after it was purchased by Veterans Affairs Canada in 1944.

Following the Second World War, Beechwood continued to be used for burial of Canadian military personnel, including veterans and war dead who served in Korea, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.

In 1957-58, a Cross of Sacrifice and shelter building with a Cremation Memorial were erected in Section 27 and a dedication ceremony was held on 10 May 1959.

When Beechwood Cemetery was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2000, Section 27 was recognized as a key feature of the cemetery’s heritage value due to its prominent and central location in the cemetery and the uniform headstones surrounding the Cross of Sacrifice.

In 2005, the road separating the Cremation Memorial from the rest of Section 27 was turned into a walkway and signs were installed at the western entrance. A foot path was created to join Sections 29, 27, and 103. Annual horticulture features are planted around the Cross, Cremation Memorial and along grave rows in all four section of the National Military Cemetery.

In 2007, Beechwood established the National Military Cemetery encompassing the military plots in Sections 19 (Last Post Fund plot) and 29 and Sections 27 and 103 (established after 1947).

In 2009, Canadian Parliament passed a bill recognizing Beechwood as the National Cemetery of Canada.

This memorial, located at Beechwood Cemetery, consists of a plaque on stone and a commemorative tree.