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The 139th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force Colours were deposited in St. Peter’s in March of 1915. The 139th Battalion was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 27 September 1916. Its personnel were absorbed by the 36th Reserve Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force on 6 October 1916 to provide reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field. The battalion was disbanded on 21 May 1917.

In earlier times, Colours played a prominent part in many battles. They served to identify units in battle, often marking the focal point of a struggle. Captured Colours were a prized trophy and attracted enemy attention and inspired much gallantry. By the late 19^th and 20^th Century, however, they were no longer carried in battle, but their status as the heart and soul of a Regiment continued, and the laying up of Colours signifies and helps keep holy the memories of the men who sacrificed their lives.

The Joynt Memorial was unveiled on May 24, 1923 and was the only Huron County War Memorial paid for entirely by private funds. Indeed, in 1922, Joynt had donated the site and moved the St. Helens community centre to the northeast corner of the crossroads where he intended to place the war memorial.

At his own expense, John Joynt spent the then-considerable sum of $5,000 on a monument to honour those from West Wawanosh who had served in the Great War.

Six more names were added after the Second World War.

After the demolition of the St. Helens United Church in 1978, a bell with the names of men who had fought and died in the Great War was placed beside the monument notes the township history book Reflections of West Wowanosh (1995).

Operation Common Ground Stained Glass Window

Artist: Brenda Ebear

Designed by: Alex Matheson, Brandon MB, and Brenda Ebear, Cold Lake AB

Dedicated 03 May 01 

The overall intent in the design of the window was to show strength, unity and dignity. The colours chosen were strong and blue is representative of both the Protestant Chapel Guild and the Catholic Women’s League Military Ordinariate. 

The central focus is on four people reaching as individuals and as a group toward the dove, representing the Holy Spirit and peace. The people are clothed in white but their four different skin pigments illustrate diversity and individuality. Their base is the maple leaf representing Canada and the cross is clearly visible on the right. Canada is also evident in the background of mountains and ocean. 

A strong red, characterizing Canadian women, is used in the maple leaf and the roses throughout the design and in the border to bind the window and theme together. The traditional gold glass, taken from the Cold Lake chapel when the windows were renovated, is a part of our military religious history that is repeating itself in Operation Common Ground. 

The final design was drawn by hand to incorporate the incongruities and imperfections of humanity. Although the window appears to be symmetrical, small differences may be visible on closer inspection, embodying the inspiration and central message of Operation Common Ground. 

In addition, each active council of the Military Ordinariate Catholic Women’s League and guild of the Protestant Chapel Guild received a “Trenton Rose” stained glass rose. They were created and distributed to extend the themes of Christianity, love of Canada and the women who support the Canadian military both from within and as spouses of serving members to all chapels across Canada. The rose duplicated the design of the rose of the Operation Common Ground Stained Glass Window. 

Sponsored by the DND Millennium Project

The Bewdley First World War Honour Roll is dedicated to those who served in the First World War and was erected by the Township of Hamilton.

Cobourg’s military history reveals that significant contingents of soldiers participated during the War of 1812, the First and Second World Wars and later it played a role in Canada’s post war defense plan by opening the No. 26 Central Ordnance Depot in 1953. At capacity, the Depot employed over 700 military and civilian workers and stored over 30,000 items, such as, weapons, munitions and combat vehicles for development and testing. The Depot was later named Cobourg Forces Station in 1966 and is now the location of the Cobourg Afghanistan Memorial. The memorial was unveiled on November 8, 2019.

Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) III were originally manufactured by Canadians at General Dynamics Land Systems Canada in London, Ontario and were instrumental to troops in carrying out their missions while in Afghanistan. The monuments were created from decommissioned LAV III hulls, donated by the Government of Canada and built by Militex Coating Inc. and Fanshawe College students in London, Ontario.

On November 5, 2014, the Canada Company Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) lll Monument Program was launched to recognize the 40,000 Canadians Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan and to commemorate the 162 Canadians who lost their lives. The program closed after awarding 33 monuments to communities across Canada. 

The Town also dedicated the Ontario Street overpass to Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, who became the first female soldier killed, in 2006, during combat in Afghanistan.

Alvan Sherlock Mathers, of Rule, Wynn & Rule designed the Memorial Hall, Trinity College School, Port Hope, Ontario 1948-49. The Memorial Chapel, was opened in 1951 and dedicated to the memory of 185 Old Boys killed in the Boer War, World War I and World War II. The consecration of the chapel was presided over by the Reverends L.W.B. Broughall and R.J. Renison, both TCS Old Boys. Also attending were the Governor General Viscount Alexander and his wife, and the Right Honourable Vincent Massey. Chapel services are an important part of school life, as a time for reflection, renewal and celebration. In addition to morning services, many special assemblies are held within the chapel.

This memorial is dedicated to teachers and staff from Canada who taught and provided their support to the children of Canadian Armed Forces families stationed overseas from 1954 to 1994. It has a grey granite core (16 x 16 x 48), a black polished cap (16 x 18 x 2) with laser etched script lettering and an interlocking brick pathway leading up to and surrounding the memorial. The memorial was made by Campbell Monument of Belleville, Ontario.

AD ASTRA stones were purchased by a number of the teachers and placed along the walkway. The memorial and AD ASTRA stones were dedicated at the 2017 AD ASTRA ceremony held September 30, 2017.

The Make Waves memorial was unveiled on October 17, 2020. The life-sized bronze statue is of Fern Blodgett Sunde - the first woman to work as a wireless radio operator. The statute of Fern is stepping forward with one foot emerging from an impressionistic wave, but she is also looking back, with her hand just grazing the top of the wave. Forward is her persistence in breaking barriers – looking back is in remembrance.

A relief is sculpted in the wave, depicting Canada's role in the Battle of the Atlantic. Designed to seem as if the viewer is looking through a window, out to sea. The planes and ships are lined to Canada’s central role in the Battle of the Atlantic. The passenger ship represents SS Athenia which was torpedoed on September 3, 1939, by a German U-boat. One hundred and twelve civilians were killed. Hannah Baird, a stewardess on Athenia was considered Canadian Merchant Navy’s first fatality of the Second World War. The skies are heavy and dark with lightly outlined U-boats on the horizon to symbolize the sinister danger that claimed thousands upon thousands of Allied lives.

Also in the relief is an amphibious aircraft the Canso. Canadian built Cansos served with 11 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, operating on both coasts. The Hawker Hurricane, known for its role in the Battle of Britain, also fought in the Battle of the Atlantic. A significant manufacturer was Canadian Car and Foundry, located in what is now Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Chief Engineer, the renowned Elsie MacGill became known as the Queen of the Hurricanes.

A river-class frigate built in Canada is represented by HMCS Waskesiu. The first of its class commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, and the first Canadian frigate to sink a U-boat. The Flower-class corvette represents HMCS Cobourg which was named after the Town of Cobourg. Canada built over one hundred corvettes.

The headphones slung around Fern's neck symbolize her work and profession. Her clothing is typical of what she wore as she carried out her duties aboard Mosdale. A pin on her lapel commemorates the sisterhood of wireless radio operators - "Sparks" who followed her to sea. The wave she touches symbolizes the wave of social change that came for Canadian women in the storm of war. The wave also represents radio waves, and the waves of the sea as a battlefield. 

Lightly traced on Fern's finger is a wedding ring in remembrance of the young Norwegian Captain who had no idea he was hiring his future wife. Together, they faced danger and hardship at sea, and did everything they could to support the Allies in the fight against the Nazis. Fern was only in her forties when Gerner died suddenly. She told her daughters that there was only one true love for her and never remarried.

Fern Blodgett Sunde grew up in Cobourg and dreamt of becoming a sailor. She learned only boys could work at sea, so when the Second World War began she applied to become a wireless radio operator. The first two schools turned her down because she was a woman, but she persisted and a third school, the Radio College of Canada, accepted her.

Even with a Second Class Wireless Operator’s certificate in hand, Canadian and British navies would not hire her because she was a woman. Mosdale, a Norwegian merchant marine vessel, was in desperate need of a wireless operator and granted her an interview as F. Blodgett, not realizing F. stood for Fern. She travelled to Montreal where Gerner Sunde, Norwegian captain of Mosdale – and Fern’s future husband – was shocked to see his applicant was a woman. Since Norway had no rule against women working aboard ships, Fern was hired.

Fern crossed the Atlantic ocean 78 times on Mosdale, avoiding submarines, receiving and sending coded messages and delivering desperately needed supplies. In 1943, Fern was honoured by King Haakon VII of Norway and became the first women to be awarded the Norwegian War Medal for courage and contribution to the Allied war effort.

In 1952, Fern left the sea to raise her two daughters. She opened the door to a sisterhood of Sparks, mostly Canadian and Scandinavian women, working on Norwegian merchant ships until technology replaced the wireless radio. Of the ships mentioned in the Admiralty’s 1941 letter of praise, only Mosdale survived the war.

The memorial was commissioned by the Cobourg Museum Foundation and funded in part by Veterans Affairs Canada. Charitable foundations, local businesses and individuals, as well as the Town of Cobourg, made financial and in-kind contributions. The statue was commissioned to honour the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic and was unveiled during Women's History Month in Canada.

Tyler Fauvelle’s work includes more than a dozen public art bronze monuments, four of which are military-themed: Afghanistan Monument, Francis Pegahmagabow Monument and Charles Henry Byce Memorial.

This street is named in tribute to the Veterans of Brighton area.

A cenotaph in memory of the local fallen of the Second World War was unveiled and dedicated on Sunday afternoon, October 24, 1948. The light grey granite stele was erected in Victoria Square Park by the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 187.

A parade, under the direction of Angus Duffy, Belleville, formed at Memorial Park and marched to Victoria Square Park in the following order: Colour Party, RCAF Band of Trenton; Colborne Legion members; Cobourg Legion members; 33rd Medium Regiment Band; Brighton Legion; Legion members from other branches, Ladies’ Auxiliary, Colborne High School cadets; Salvation Army Band; Boy Scouts and Cubs; and school children.

The master of ceremonies was A.D. Hall. Guests on the speaker’s platform were: Major the Rev. John W. Foote, Victoria Cross; Captain Charles S. Rutherford, Victoria Cross, Military Cross, Military Medal; Major R. Earle Drope, Military Medal, Member of Parliament; the Rev. Roy Rickard, MRE, Master Corporal; the Hon. W.A. Goodfellow, Minister of Welfare; the Rev. A.N. Reid; the Rev. J.W. Culley; Legion Zone Commander Roy Service; Colborne Legion Branch 187 President A.R. Harvey; Branch 187 Ladies’ Auxiliary President Ada Warner; and Miss Eliza J. Padginton, a faithful friend to servicemen of three wars.

Two months later the cenotaph was destroyed beyond repair by a car during the early hours of Wednesday, December 8. The monument was rebuilt. The Cenotaph Restoration Committee oversaw the cleaning and refurbishment of the monuments, installation of new concrete walkways rimmed with memorial paving stones purchased by families and friends of people they wished commemorated.

In the mid 1990’s, Korea was added to the back of the cenotaph by the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

In 2014, the Cenotaph Restoration Committee oversaw the cleaning and refurbishment of both the First World War and Second World War Cenotaphs. A concrete pad was placed in a rectangular shape around both monuments and paving stones, furniture, planters, and lighting were added. The fountain separating the two cenotaphs was upgraded. The new walkways are rimmed with memorial paving stones purchased by families and friends of people they wish commemorated.

The project was funded by Veterans Affairs Canada, with donations from the public and the Township of Cramahe to cover the project's cost. The two Colborne war cenotaphs were rededicated on May 22, 2016.