National Military Cemetery Memorial
Municipality/Province: Ottawa, ON
Memorial number: 35061-051
Type: Monument; granite
Address: 280 Beechwood Avenue
Location: Beechwood Cemetery, National Military Cemetery, Section 103
GPS coordinates: Lat: 45.4466436 Long: -75.6579913
Submitted by: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
This granite monument is the main memorial located at Beechwood Cemetery. Beechwood is the site of the National Military Cemetery, established through a partnership between Commonwealth War Graves Commission Canadian Agency, Veterans Affairs Canada, Department of National Defence, and Beechwood.
Established in 1873, Beechwood was designed as a 19th century rural cemetery following the prohibition of burials within town limits. The western part of Section 29 was established as a military cemetery by the Soldiers’ Aid Commission and Department of Militia and Defence in 1918, and the majority of First World War dead are buried here, including several who were moved from single lots throughout the cemetery in 1922. Section 29 continued to be used for First World War veterans and later for war dead and veterans of the Second World War. War dead from the Second World War were also buried in Section 27 after it was purchased by Veterans Affairs Canada in 1944.
Following the Second World War, Beechwood continued to be used for burial of Canadian military personnel, including veterans and war dead who served in Korea, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.
In 1957-58, a Cross of Sacrifice and shelter building with a Cremation Memorial were erected in Section 27 and a dedication ceremony was held on 10 May 1959.
When Beechwood Cemetery was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2000, Section 27 was recognized as a key feature of the cemetery’s heritage value due to its prominent and central location in the cemetery and the uniform headstones surrounding the Cross of Sacrifice.
In 2005, the road separating the Cremation Memorial from the rest of Section 27 was turned into a walkway and signs were installed at the western entrance. A foot path was created to join Sections 29, 27, and 103. Annual horticulture features are planted around the Cross, Cremation Memorial and along grave rows in all four section of the National Military Cemetery.
In 2007, Beechwood established the National Military Cemetery encompassing the military plots in Sections 19 (Last Post Fund plot) and 29 and Sections 27 and 103 (established after 1947).
In 2009, Canadian Parliament passed a bill recognizing Beechwood as the National Cemetery of Canada.
Inscription found on memorial
[front/devant]
THE NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY
OF THE CANADIAN FORCES
LE CIMETIÈRE MILITAIRE NATIONAL
DES FORCES CANADIENNES
[right side/côté droit]
DEDICATED ON BEHALF OF
THE PEOPLE OF CANADA
28 JUNE 2001
[back/arrière]
TO THE MEN
AND WOMEN
OF CANADA'S
ARMED FORCES
WHO HAVE SERVED
THEIR NATION
WITH DISTINCTION
IN WAR AND IN
PEACE
AUX HOMMES
ET FEMMES
DES FORCES
ARMÉE DU
CANADA QUI ONT
SERVI LEUR NATION
AVEC DISTINCTION
EN TEMPS DE
GUERRE ET DE PAIX
[left side/côté gauche]
INAUGURÉ AU NOM DU
PEUPLE CANADIEN
LE 28 JUIN 2001
Street view
Note
This information is provided by contributors and Veterans Affairs Canada makes it available as a service to the public. Veterans Affairs Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the information.
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