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Rainy River Cenotaph
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The Cenotaph in the Cemetery recognizes those who lost their lives in the World Wars.
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This plaque is dedicated to Major Christopher Patrick John O'Kelly V.C.
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[plaque]
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
1914 - 1918 1939 - 1945
THIS MEMORIAL IS RAISED IN
GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THOSE
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN
DEFENCE OF FREEDOM, KING AND
COUNTRY AND TO THOSE WHO
SERVED AND SINCE DIED
[plaque]
KOREAN WAR 1950 - 1953
AND
PEACEKEEPERS
Directly across the street from the Memorial Building is the Keewatin Memorial Cairn. It was dedicated in 1953, by the Great War Veterans, to honour the men from the First and Second World Wars that lost their lives and those that fought, returned and later passed. The Korean War plaque was added later, to give those Veterans, as well as those that served in Peace Keeping Operations, the recognition they deserved.
[front/devant]
1914 - 1918
FOR THE DEAD
A TRIBUTE
FOR THE LIVING
A MEMORY
FOR PROSPERITY
AN EMBLEM
OF LOYALTY TOTHE FLAG
OF THEIR COUNTRY.
THE CITIZENS OF KENORA
HAVE ERECTED THIS MONUMENT
INGRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE
SERVICES OF ALL HER SONS WHO UPHELD
THE HONOUR AND INTEGRITY OF THEIR
BELOVED COUNTRY INHER HOUR
OF PERIL.
1914 - 1918
[right side/côté droit]
A GRATEFUL TRIBUTE TO THE MEN OF THIS COMMUNITY
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SECOND GREAT WAR.
1939 - 1945
THESE HAVE DIED IN FAITH, NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES,
BUT HAVING SEEN THEM AFAR OFF.
HEBREWS XI:13
[back/arrière]
OUR HEROIC DEAD WHO
MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
In the spring of 1923, a War Memorial Committee was established in the town of Kenora. Its mandate was a war memorial to commemorate the local people who fought in the First World War and never returned.
By early May, the Committee selected the site of the square in front of the Court House. A fundraising campaign was launched for the latter part of June and into July when the town was thoroughly canvassed. By August of 1923, enough money had been raised to proceed. The Creber Brothers of Toronto were awarded the contract – their design judged the best by the Committee. The 22-feet tall monument was made of Stanstead granite and surmounted by the bronze figure of a soldier created by Toronto sculptor Charles Adamson.
The foundation was installed the fall of 1923 and fundraising continued with such events as “The War Memorial Carnival.” The Committee canvassed the community to ensure that the name of every soldier who fell in the Great War was placed on the cenotaph.
On Sunday, September 7, 1924, the unveiling address was delivered by Lieutenant-Colonel H.A.C. Machin, commanding officer of the 94th overseas battalion, followed by a prayer of consecration by Reverend E. Diamond and an address by Captain the Reverend A.J. Labonte, military chaplain overseas. The cenotaph was unveiled by Mrs. E. Mills, Mrs. John Bull, and Mrs. J.A. Horan – the wives or mothers of three of the 96 Kenora men who are commemorated on the cenotaph. Nearly 4,000 people attended the unveiling, an impressive showing considering the population of the town was about 7,500 in 1924.
Following the Second World War, the names of those who never returned from that war were added to the cenotaph.
[front/devant]
LEST WE
FORGET
WORLD WAR I
1914 - 1918
[A list of 96 names follows, but the wording is not clear in the photo./Une liste de 96 noms suit, mais le texte n’est pas clair sur la photo.]
[rear/arrière]
LEST WE
FORGET
WORLD WAR II
1939 - 1945
[A list of 80 names follows, but the wording is not clear in the photo./Une liste de 80 noms suit, mais le texte n’est pas clair sur la photo.]
This memorial is dedicated to the veterans of the First and Second World Wars.
[front/devant]
MENEELY & CO., WATERVLIET, N.Y. 1919
IN LOVING MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT
AND THOSE WHO DIED FOR FREEDOM
1914 1918
[back/arrière]
TO JAMES AITCHESON, SR.
IN APPRECIATION OF HIS
EFFORTS AND ZEAL, THIS
BELL WAS ERECTED 1919.
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 West Wawanosh Soldiers’ Monument.