Canadian Pacific Railway World Wars Memorial
Municipality/Province: Calgary, AB
Memorial number: 48002-049
Type: Cairn - brick, tablet - bronze
Address: 7550 Ogden Dale Road SE
Location: CPKC Headquarters
GPS coordinates: Lat: 50.9921878 Long: -114.0015012
Submitted by: Deirdre Kraft
The Canadian Pacific Railway Great War Tablet in the Calgary Station was dedicated on April 28, 1922. The tablet then moved to their head office at Gulf Canada Square (9th Avenue SW) and eventually to its current location at the new Headquarters at Ogden. Following the Second World War, a small crest was added under the tablet, now honouring employees who served in either conflict. The tablet and crest were mounted on a cairn around 2017 and the For Valour plaque was added on Remembrance Day 2021.
To honour those who served and gave their lives during the Great War, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) erected a series of bronze memorial tablets in over twenty select locations along their railway system and offices in Canada, United States, England and China. The tablet depicts Britannia, the national personification of Britain, as a helmeted female warrior with a lion to her right and a shield at her feet, HMS Lion (Admiral Beatty's flagship during the Battle of Jutland) with airplanes above and a tank in front, Canadian Pacific Steamship RMS Empress of Russia (used during the war as an armed merchant cruiser and transport ship), Canadian troops, and a CPR locomotive in a nod to all those who travelled by train across Canada before heading overseas. The plaque was designed by Archibald Pearce, Chief Engineer's Department, Montreal, with its model and casting by the Bromsgrove Guild at Worcester, England.
| Original location | Current location |
| CPR Office, Saint John, New Brunswick | McAdam Railway Museum, McAdam, New Brunswick |
| Du Palais CPR Station, Quebec City, Quebec | Du Palais CPR Station, Quebec City, Quebec |
| Viger Station, Montreal, Quebec | Exporail, Montreal, Quebec |
| Windsor Station, Montreal, Quebec | Windsor Station, Montreal, Quebec |
| Angus Shops, Montreal, Quebec | CPKC Archives, Calgary, Alberta (in storage) |
| North Toronto Station, Toronto, Ontario | Union Station, Toronto, Ontario |
| West Toronto Station, Toronto, Ontario | unknown |
| North Bay Station, North Bay, Ontario | North Bay Memorial Park, North Bay, Ontario |
| Fort William Union Station, Fort William, Ontario | Thunder Bay Station, Thunder Bay, Ontario |
| Weston Shops, Winnipeg, Manitoba | Weston Shops, Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Saskatoon Station, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Thomas Cook Restaurant, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
| Moose Jaw Station, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan | Old Moose Jaw Station, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan |
| Regina Station, Regina, Saskatchewan | Casino Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan |
| Calgary Station, Calgary, Alberta | CPKC Headquarters, Calgary, Alberta |
| Calgary Natural Resources Building, Calgary, Alberta | The Military Museums, Calgary, Alberta |
| Edmonton Station, Edmonton Alberta | CPKC Archives, Calgary, Alberta (in storage) |
| Nelson Station, Nelson, British Columbia | Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, Nelson, British Columbia |
| Vancouver Station, Vancouver, British Columbia | unknown |
| Steamship Office, Victoria, British Columbia | Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia |
| CPR Office, New York, New York, United States | Exporail, Montreal, Quebec |
| CPR Office, Liverpool, England | Royal Liver Building, Liverpool, England |
| CPR Building, Charing Cross, London, England | unknown |
| CPR Office, Hong Kong, China | Believed destroyed during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War. |
All tablets were unveiled simultaneously on the same date along with three identical Winged Victory memorials in Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.
Inscription found on memorial
[front/devant]
THIS TABLET COMMEMORATES THOSE IN THE SERVICE
OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY WHO
AT THE CALL OF KING AND COUNTRY LEFT ALL THAT
WAS DEAR TO THEM, ENDURED HARDSHIP, FACED DANGER
AND FINALLY PASSED OUT OF SIGHT OF MEN BY THE
PATH OF DUTY AND SELF SACRIFICE. GIVING UP THEIR
OWN LIVES THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM
LET THOSE WHO COME AFTER SEE TO IT
THAT THEIR NAMES BE NOT FORGOTTEN.
1914 YPRES FESTUBERT THE SOMME VIMY HILL 70 1918
PASSCHENDAELE AMIENS CAMBRAI DROCOURT QUEANT MONS
1914-1918 1939-1945
FOR VALOUR
- Captain Ronald Neil Stuart VC DSO RD
Royal Navy Reserve
For Valour at Sea, June 7th, 1917 - Private Michael James O'Rourke VC MM
7th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force
For Valour at Lens, France August 15th to 16th, 1917 - Private James Peter Robertson VC
27th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force
For Valour at Passchendaele, France November 6th, 1917 - Sergeant William Merrifield VC MM
4th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force
For Valour at Abancourt, France October 1st, 1918 - Warrant Officer Class II John Robert Osborn VC
Winnipeg Grenadiers
For Valour at Mount Butler, Hong Kong December 19th, 1941 - Captain Frederic Thornton Peters VC DSO DSC/Bar DSC (U.S.) RD
Royal Navy
For Valour at Oran, Algeria November 8th, 1942
Employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway awarded the Victoria Cross for Gallantry and Valour
Street view
Note
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