Argenteuil Cenotaph
Municipality/Province: Lachute, QC
Memorial number: 24004-009
Type: Shaft, statue
Address: 378 Principale Street
Location: Jean-Marc-Belzile Library
GPS coordinates: Lat: 45.6553054 Long: -74.3400646
Submitted by: Jacinthe Choinière; Nancy Parisien
George Hill’s monument at Lachute features a triumphant bare-headed soldier, his right hand raised in glorious victory, the soldier’s trusty Lee-Enfield on which the left hand rests. The Canadian Tommy has triumphed, he has come though, he rejoices in the thrill of victory.
This memorial, a bronze statue on a granite shaft, has been erected by the township of Argenteuil in honour of those who died during the First World War. The sculpture is the work of George W. Hill.
George William Hill was born in Shipton, Eastern Townships, in 1861. He learned to carve marble in his father’s company, after he graduated from college. Between 1889 and 1894, he left Quebec to study sculpting at the École nationale des beaux-arts and Académie Julian in Paris. When he returned to Montreal, he opened a studio and worked with architect Robert Findlay and brothers Edward and William S. Maxwell. Known for his public monuments and war memorials, he is now considered one of the most important Canadian sculptors of the early twentieth century.
Hill designed several monuments commemorating Canadians lost in the South African War, including the Strathcona and South African Soldiers' Memorial in Quebec and Boer War Soldiers Monument in Ontario. At the end of the First World War, Hill was awarded several contracts by towns and cities wishing to pay homage to citizens who had died on the battlefields. Between 1920 and 1930 he designed these monuments: Westmount Cenotaph, Magog Cenotaph, Argenteuil Cenotaph, Richmond Cenotaph, Sherbrooke War Memorial in Quebec; Pictou County War Memorial in Nova Scotia; Soldier's Monument, The Soldier and Nurses’ Memorial in Ontario; and the Soldier's Monument in Prince Edward Island.
Inscription found on memorial
[front/devant]
IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF ARGENTEUIL WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
À LA MÉMOIRE DES SOLDATS D'ARGENTEUIL TUÉS À LA GRANDE GUERRE
RECTED BY THE COUNTY OF ARGENTEUIL
ÉRIGÉ PAR LE COMTÉ D'ARGENTEUIL
[plaque/plaque]
1936 LEST WE FORGET 1986
ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION ROYALE CANADIENNE
50 YEARS OF SERVICE
50 ANNÉES DE SERVICES COMMUNAUTAIRES
JE ME SOUVIENS.
[left side/côté gauche]
(needs further research/recherche incomplète)
JE ME SOUVIENS.
[right side/côté droit]
(needs further research/recherche incomplète)
LEST WE FORGET
[back/arrière]
VILLAGE OF CALUMET
T. ROUILLARD
TOWNSHIP OF GORE
T. COPELAND
TOWNSHIP OF GRENVILLE
H. CARTER
L.J. LITTLE
VILLAGE OF GRENVILLE
W.S. BURNS
J.A. DEWAR
A. McVICAR
TOWNSHIP OF MONTCALM
W.L. MORGAN
J.P. RENAUD
MILLES ISLES
R.W. STRONG
Street view
Note
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