Visit one of Winnipeg’s many war memorials

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/11/2021 (1450 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In just about every destination I have had the privilege of visiting, there is a memorial, monument, or museum dedicated to fallen soldiers.

This time of year always gets me thinking about those who came before me, who sacrificed their lives for the rest of us, and reflecting on the universality of war. But I don’t have to be in some distant location to be reminded. Right here at home there are plenty of physical reminders all around us.
In fact, just the other day while waiting in my vehicle at a red light, I noticed one of Winnipeg’s most obvious commemorations for the first time.

At the corner of Broadway and Osborne Street, on the northwest corner of the grounds of the Manitoba legislature, is the Next of Kin monument. It was unveiled nearly a century ago, in 1923, to remember the 1,663 Manitobans — mostly from Winnipeg — who never came home from the First World War. It’s kind of hard to miss, and I can’t believe I had never really noticed it previously.

In the 1930s, a site in St. Boniface that had been informally used as a local dump was converted into public green space. The grounds of Coronation Park were levelled and landscaped, and officially opened on May 12, 1937, to coincide with the coronation of King George VI. In July 1947 a cenotaph was unveiled at the site to honour fallen soldiers of the First World War and Second World War, with acknowledgement of the Korean War added in later years.

Located in Bruce Park, the St. James Cenotaph was first erected in 1936 by the St. James Royal Canadian Legion No. 4. The original structure slowly eroded away over the next five decades, and in the 1980s it finally succumbed to major frost damage. A replica was instated and dedicated at a ceremony on September 30, 1990, and it remains in fine form today.

Valour Road, formerly called Pine Street, was renamed to recognize three soldiers from the First World War who all lived on the street — Frederick William Hall, Leo Clarke, and Robert Shankland — who were all awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Commonwealth’s highest military honour. The Valour Road commemorative plaza at Sargent Avenue and Valour Road was designed in 2005 and is shaped like a Victoria Cross with bronze plaques atop Tyndall-stone bases.  

Vimy Ridge Canadian Memorial Park, which spans Portage Avenue between Canora and Home streets, is home to multiple statues in commemoration of the First World War. The 44th Canadian Infantry Vimy Ridge Monument, originally erected on Vimy Ridge in France in 1917, was relocated to Winnipeg in 1924 to reside in our Vimy Ridge Park. Here you’ll also find a bronze statue unveiled in 2015 that pays tribute to military gunner Andrew Charles Mynarski, a Winnipeg-born war hero who was awarded the Victoria Cross after his death. At the northwest corner of the park stands a memorial to fallen members of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.

These are just a few of the many sites in Winnipeg that honour fallen soldiers. Next time you notice one, take a moment to stop and remember.

Lest we forget.