Ontario

The marble cenotaph was erected by the Lucknow Women's Institute, as a memorial to the Lucknow men who fell in the Great War, or died as a result of the war experience. It was unveiled on Armistice Day 1929 minus the figure, which wasn't completed until the following April. A crowd of over 300 were in attendance.

The Lucknow Women's Institute decided that the names inscribed on the monument should only be of those men whose death was due to incidents of the war service and whose family home was in Lucknow at the time of their enlistment or soon after.

The marble figure was sculpted in Italy, at the same place and time as the monument in Teeswater, and erected on a shaft on top of the base in April 1930. The figure is six feet tall, which gives the cenotaph an overall height of 14 feet and six inches from the sub-base. The cost of the monument and lighting was $2,200.

The Museum's Lancaster Mk. X was built at Victory Aircraft, Malton in July 1945 and was later converted to a Royal Canadian Air Force 10MR configuration. In 1952, it suffered a serious accident and received a replacement wing center section from a Lancaster that had flown in combat over Germany. It served as a maritime patrol aircraft, with No. 405 Squadron, Greenwood, Nova Scotia and No. 107 Rescue Unit, Torbay, Newfoundland for many years and was retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force in late 1963.

With help from the Sulley Foundation in 1977, it was acquired from the Royal Canadian Legion in Goderich, Ontario, where it had been on outside display. Eleven years passed before it was completely restored and flew again on September 24, 1988. The Lancaster is dedicated to the memory of P/O Andrew Mynarski and is referred to as the “Mynarski Memorial Lancaster”. It is painted in the colours of his aircraft KB726 – VR-A, which flew with Royal Canadian Air Force  No. 419 (Moose) Squadron. Andrew Mynarski won the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth’s highest award for gallantry, on June 13, 1944, when his Lancaster was shot down in flames, by a German night fighter. As the bomber fell, he attempted to free the tail gunner trapped in the rear turret of the blazing and out of control aircraft. The tail gunner miraculously survived the crash and lived to tell the story, but sadly Andrew Mynarski died from his severe burns.

In the 1920s, a Memorial Clock to honour the men who gave their lives in the First World War was sought for Southampton Town Hall. Half the cost of the clock was donated by November 3, 1921. The Memorial Clock was installed on October 5, 1922 and unveiled, along with a bell and First World War plaque, by C.M. Bowman during a ceremony held on December 15, 1922. When the Southampton Cenotaph was built in 1958, the First World War plaque was erected on the cenotaph's left side.

In April of 1978, repairs were made to the clock by Walter Mackowski. The clock is a rare electromechanical clock run by a master clock in the town office. At one time the clock struck the hours on a bell.

The bell has an interesting history. In 1865, the American steamship Pewchie, was claimed by Lake Huron. A Saugeen First Nation man found a body washed up on shore behind their village (now known as Saugeen First Nation). It was the body of a young woman wearing a Pewchie life-preserver. With letters also found, they were able to identify her and notified friends. A brother arrived to take his sister's body home. They were the family of the Troy Bell Company of Syracuse, New York.

In appreciation, the family sent the first bell to Southampton which became the all-purpose bell for the town. When the bell cracked, the Mayor A. E. Belcher and Council wrote to the Troy Bell Company requesting a replacement. The company agreed and Southampton paid for the bell to be shipped. Today, the bell still chimes every hour on the hour.

At a Town Council meeting held in November 1918, discussions started about erecting a War Memorial on the grounds surrounding the Town Hall and the Carnegie Library in Exeter. The Municipal Councils of the Township of Usborne and the Village of Exeter attended a meeting held in Reeve Ben Beavers' hardware store on Main Street in Exeter on Friday, November 15, 1918. It was agreed that a monument be erected and fundraising efforts begin.

The Exeter Patriotic League sent a letter to the Reeve along with a donation of $300 to create a trust in perpetuity to make sure the surroundings of the monument be maintained and "kept beautiful" and that "suitable flowers be planted and cared for". The letter was signed by E.V. Pickard, President and M.L. Johns, Secretary.

Mr. Thompson, of Toronto, showed cuts of a number of designs which would be suitable for a memorial. He thought the idea should be one of peace rather than one of war and showing that the men had sacrificed their lives to bring about peace. The design chosen was in the form of a fountain, a spray of water coming from each side as an emblem of life that was given to bring about peace.

The memorial is eight feet long and five feet wide at the base, and ten feet high. It contains the names of all the fallen heroes of the Village of Exeter and Usborne Township. It is made of Canadian grey granite and was completed by Canadian workmen. The cost was shared equally by the Village of Exeter and Usborne Township. The work was completed by Mr. James Weeks, the local Marble Works owner, and was completed by December 1919.

On January 9, 1920, in spite of the stormy weather an immense number of people gathered in the Village of Exeter to witness the unveiling of the memorial to the fallen heroes of the Village of Exeter and Usborne Township. All the stores, factories, and manufacturers, were asked to close their places of business between three and four p.m. The memorial was constructed with a dove on top, but many citizens questioned whether that dove truly resembled the dove of peace. The dove was removed by the memorial's creator. If the memorial is looked down on from the south windows of the Council Chambers in the Exeter Town Hall, the scars of damage can be seen on the round dome which tops the monument where the dove had been fastened.

This memorial, which incorporates a FPS-20 search radar antenna, was donated by Canadian Forces Base Clinton in 1967 for Canada's Centennial celebration. 

No. 1 Radar and Communications School at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Clinton was first opened in 1941 under British control, then became Royal Canadian Air Force Clinton in 1943. It was the focal point of radar training in Canada during the Second World War and Cold War. From 1948-1962, a guided missile school also operated out of Clinton.

Clinton was chosen because of its location. It had a similar feel to England, was secluded, but close enough to cities if needed, and the RAF flying school north of Goderich could be used in their training. In its time, Clinton trained more than 40,000 people.

On July 26, 1933, this memorial Cairn, bearing the names of 8 men killed in action was dedicated to those from Bayfield who served and sacrificed in World War I.  At a re-dedication ceremony on August 10, 1947, the names of those killed in World War II were added to this Cairn.

Warrant Officer Michael Stewart Kerby Sign

On November 9, 1990, the Tudor and Cashel Township War Memorial was unveiled and dedicated. It was erected to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices of all those who worked and fought for peace and freedom.

Second World War and Korean War Veteran David Hamel provided the first $100 donation and suggested a memorial be built to honour and remember military personnel who died during the two World Wars and the Korean conflict. David also donated two loads of gravel for the memorial.

A committee was formed and raised 9,286. The memorial was built by Campbell’s Monuments in Belleville. It was decided Gilmour would not have a cenotaph which commemorates the dead, but instead a war memorial to celebrate the contributions of all participants in the country’s war efforts – including those serving in the Persian Gulf.

Founded as a Centennial project in 1967, the Lester B Pearson Peace Park is a 17 acre park with nature trails and a picnic area. Set in a pine forest, the park features peace pagodas, memorial gardens, international peace columns, Hands of the World and a Tower of Hope. There are signs about the plants, animals, history and memorials in the park.

In the early 1920’s, a memorial stained glass window was erected by Robert McCausland Company in the local highschool to honour Tweed, Ontario’s fallen soldiers from World War I  amid dignitaries Brigadier General A. E. Ross and the Reverend Dr. Bruce Taylor, Principal of Queen’s University. The  three panel stained glass window depicts a soldier armed with bayonet at its centre and bookended either side with the names of the dead from the Tweed area. The window was erected in honour of those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. A local restoration team from Sunrise Glass Works performed repair work in the early 1970’s when the school board was in the midst of tearing down the original part of the high school, erected near the end of World War I.  The window migrated to a safe spot in a newer addition to the school.