Ontario

This plaque commemorates Colonel Elizabeth Smellie's selfless service during the First and Second world wars, and her many accomplishments as a leader of nursing services in Canada.

Elizabeth Lawrie Smellie was born in March 1884 in Port Arthur/ Thunder Bay, Ontario. After completing her education in Port Arthur, she studied nursing at the Johns Hopkins Hospital School in Baltimore. Graduating in 1909, she worked in hospitals in Fort William as well as Detroit. When war broke out in 1914, she was among the first to volunteer for the Canadian Army Medical Corps nursing section and served in hospitals in England and France, in positions of increasing responsibility.

Following the end of the war, she continued her studies in Boston, after which she became a professor at McGill University’s school of nursing, eventually becoming the assistant director. Concurrently, she held positions in the Victorian Order of Nurses and was appointed it’s national chief superintendent in 1924. In the early 1930s, she was appointed to the Rockefeller Foundation where she led a study on maternal welfare. She was subsequently named the First Vice-President of the American Public Health Association and received the Order of the British Empire, in 1934, in the rank of Commander.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Elizabeth Smellie was asked to return to military service as Matron-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. Responsible for over 3,600 Canadian nurses deployed throughout the globe, she was also tasked with creating the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. Promoted to Colonel in 1944, she became the first women to attain this rank in Canada.

She returned to the  Victorian Order of Nurses after the war and also served briefly with Veterans Affairs Canada until 1948. Colonel Elizabeth Smellie died in March 1968 and is buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Thunder Bay.

The City of Ottawa named this roadway Eric Maloney Way, in November 2016, in honour of Corporal Eric J. Maloney.

Eric Maloney was born in 1922 in Douglastown near Gaspé, Quebec.  He joined the Canadian Army at the onset of the Second World War and was assigned to the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion The Royal Rifles of Canada, based in Québec City. He was then transferred to the Royal Rifles of Canada, Canadian Active Service Force (subsequently renamed 1st Battalion, The Royal Rifles of Canada, Canadian Active Service Force) which had been mobilized in May 1940, and served in Newfoundland on garrison duty until August 1941.

In September 1941, Britain requested Canadian units for garrison duty in Hong Kong. Canada accepted the request and created "C" Force, composed of a brigade headquarters, the 1st Battalion Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers.

The Royal Rifles left Québec City on 23 October 1941, arriving in Hong Kong on 16 November. Corporal Maloney and his unit spent the next few weeks training but were largely unaware of the movement of Japanese forces in their area. On 7 December the Japanese began their attack of the Hong Kong area, landing on the island on 18 December. After a week of ferocious fighting, the outnumbered Canadians surrendered on Christmas day. 290 Canadians were killed during the battle, 473 were wounded and the remainder were sent to Japanese prisoner of war camps where they endured 44 months of brutal, abusive treatment at the hands of their captures.

Corporal Maloney managed to survive this horrendous ordeal and returned to Canada at the end of the war, becoming a chef, and working on NORAD’s Distant Early Warning line. He retired to the Ottawa area, where he supported many charitable organizations and volunteered at the Nepean Museum. Corporal Eric Maloney died on 11 March 2015.

The City of Ottawa named this roadway Ralph Hennessy Avenue, in November 2015, in honour of Vice-Admiral Ralph Lucien Hennessy, DSC, KStJ, CD.

Ralph Lucien Hennessy was born in September 1918 in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the time of his birth, his father Colonel Patrick Hennessy, was serving in First World War in Europe, but the family returned to Canada in 1920. Ralph joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a Cadet in 1936 and spent the next three years training with the Royal Navy and was aboard a patrol ship shelled by the forces of the Spanish Civil War.

When the Second World War broke out, he was assigned to HMCS Assiniboine, a destroyer that played a role in the hunt for the battleship Bismarck. By August 1942, Lieutenant Hennessy was second-in-command on Assiniboine, assigned to protect convoys of merchant ships. During one ocean crossing, Assiniboine engaged a German submarine, U-210, in a surface battle. The Canadian ship was set ablaze when hit by a shell. Hennessy led the crew’s fight against the fire as the ship’s captain, directed the attack against U-210, sending the sub to the bottom of the Atlantic by ramming it twice. Hennessy was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross by King George VI for his actions during the encounter and would survive 80 convoy escorts during the war.

After the war, Hennessy remained with the Royal Canadian Navy and went on to command HMCS Micmac, as well as serving ashore in various training positions. He also commanded HMCS Quebec, HMCS Algonquin and the First Canadian Escort Squadron. In 1956, he served in London, England with the Canadian Joint Staff. Returning to Canada in 1958, he held senior naval personnel positions before being posted to Ottawa and promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1966. During the tumultuous integration period, he became the Principal Naval Adviser, the de-facto Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. Vice-Admiral Hennessy was appointed Chief of Personnel in 1969, a position he held until his retirement in 1971. He died at the age of 95 in June 2014.

Jerome Jodoin Drive is named in memory of Able Seaman Jerome Jodoin. This roadway was named in 2012 as part of the City of Ottawa’s Commemorative Street Naming for Veterans’ Program.

Jerome Jodoin was born in Ottawa on 30 September 1923. After completing his studies at the Ottawa Technical High School, he joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1942 and served on numerous ships during the Second World War, serving on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He also did convoy duty on the Arctic Ocean, sailing from ports in the UK, Iceland and North America to the Soviet Union ports of Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk.

Leaving the Navy at the end of the war in 1945, he went on to work with Canada Post and the Ottawa Printing Bureau before starting his own property management company. He was a decorated Veteran, having been awarded the 1939-1945 Star, Atlantic Star, Pacific Star, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and War Medal 1939-1945. He was also presented with a medal by the government of Russia for his convoy service resupplying the USSR with vital commodities during the Second World War.

Mr. Jodoin died in Ottawa on 1 February 2011 at the age of 87.

Toronto resident John Carswell made a lead gift on behalf of the Carswell family to Multifaith Housing Initiative to help build a community for homeless Veterans in honour of his father. Squadron Leader (ret'd) Andrew Carswell, AFC, CD, a Second World War Veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, was stationed at CFB Rockliffe, Ottawa, after the war.

Canso Investment Counsel made the second lead gift to Veterans’ House in 2018. Canso Investment Counsel is named after an airplane Squadron Leader Carswell flew during his time with the military. In recognition of the company’s donation, Multifaith Housing Initiative named the site of Veterans’ House the Canso Campus.

Located at the former CFB Rockcliffe Airbase Lands, Veterans' House: the Andy Carswell Building is Multifaith Housing Initiative's first house built exclusively for Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Veterans' House: the Andy Carswell Building began moving in tenants on February 1, 2021.

The total cost of building Veterans' House was $11.5 million. The federal government committed $6.5 million. The City of Ottawa provided $730,000 of contributions in development charges relief, property tax waivers, and other fees and permits. In addition, $1.5 million in funding was delivered through the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative and the remaining funds were raised through local faith groups, businesses, and individuals who believed in this project and donated the remaining funds.

Veterans have access to on-site recovery from health, mental health and addiction-related issues to improve the overall quality of life through recognition of the crucial and unbreakable experience of military bonds that exist in the military community.

This tree is dedicated to those who have fallen in Afghanistan.

This tree is dedicated to the memory of Captain Derek Nichols, who died while on exchange with the United States Marine Corps.

This tree is dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant Christopher Saunders, who was a Naval Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy.

This tree is dedicated to the memory of Corporal Robert (Jim) Mitchell, who died while serving with the Royal Canadian Dragoons in Afghanistan.

This tree is dedicated to the memory of Corporal Michael D. Abel, who served in Somalia as part of the Canadian Airborne Regiment.