Canadian Virtual War Memorial
George Kerr
In memory of:
Private George Kerr
November 19, 1916
Courcelette area, France
Military Service
219353
46
Army
Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment)
50th Bn.
Additional Information
February 16, 1870
Hamilton Township, Ontario
September 1, 1915
Barriefield, Ontario
Brother of Jane Kerr of Port Hope, Ontario. Private Kerr, had passed the military age and therefore might have remained at home without reproach to himself from within or without. He reasoned that those who had no dependents ought to lead the way and by doing to could do something to save the others.
Commemorated on Page 113 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
VIMY MEMORIAL
Pas de Calais, France
N/A
Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:
Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France. A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII. The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made. On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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