Cross of Sacrifice

The Cross of Sacrifice: Thousands of Canadians have died during the two great world wars, and in memory of their sacrifice, a cross has been erected beside the entrance to Battlefields Park, near Saint-Louis Gate. Each November 11th, on Armistice Day, a ceremony commemorating those historic events is held on the site by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 260. The model for the Cross of Sacrifice was inspired by France, but the idea itself comes from Great-Britain and is attributed to Lieutenant Colonel L.G. Scott, who submitted it to his colleagues around the 1920s during a veterans meeting. A committee was formed to complete the project and 4,000$ were collected after a public fund raising campaign. The monument was unveiled on July 1st, 1924 by Lord Byng of Vimy, Governor General of Canada. The ceremony gave rise to a great patriotic demonstration accompanied by the band of the 22e Régiment. The Cross of Sacrifice is made of one whole stone. Its four angles have been cut off to give the shaft an octagonal shape. The sword occupies almost three quarters of the façade. A copy of the program for July 1st, 1924 has been placed in the base of the monument, with newspapers and coins from the period. A second dedication ceremony was held in 1947. A few handfuls of French soil were placed at the base of the monument at the instance of the “Société Alsace-Lorraine, terre française” An inscription reads “A nos morts de la grande guerre”, with an English translation. In 1947, the words “A nos glorieux morts”/”To our glorious dead” were added in memory of the heroes of the 1939-45 war. (Reference: Les monuments commémoratifs de Québec, by G.E. Marquis.) After the Korean War, in 1953, a sentence was added to commemorate that conflict. All those memories are now merged together. Monique Duval, Québecensia, volume 17, no 1, December 1996

[on one section of the octagonal base/sur une section de la base octogonale]
A NOS MORTS GLORIEUX

[on one section of the octagonal base/sur une section de la base octogonale]
1914-1918
1939-1945
1950-1953

[on one section of the octagonal base/sur une section de la base octogonale]
TO OUR GLORIOUS DEAD




[centre of the lower base/centre de la base inférieure]
JE ME SOUVIENS