Vimy Ridge Park worth a Remembrance visit

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This article was published 06/11/2024 (334 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many Winnipeggers will take time to visit the city’s cenotaph and other war memorials located along Memorial Boulevard this Remembrance week. Another outdoor space worth visiting is the recently renovated memorial plaza at Vimy Ridge Memorial Park on Portage Avenue and its growing collection of memorials.

The park’s original war memorial is the 44th Battalion monument, which is still located in its northeast corner. It was constructed on Vimy Ridge during the First World War by members of the 44th Battalion to commemorate 328 of its members who lost their lives in battles at Vimy Ridge, the Triangle, and La Coulotte.

When the federal government decided to build the much larger Canadian National Vimy Memorial near that location, the monument was dismantled and sent back to Winnipeg. The city and the 44th Battalion Association agreed to erect it in what was then called St. James Park in 1926.

Over time, the monument’s original concrete base and the tiles containing the men’s names began to crumble. In 1967, the federal government funded a refurbishment of the monument that included a new Tyndall stone base, and the names were transferred to bronze plaques. For its part, the city provided new landscaping and agreed to change the name of the park to Vimy Ridge Memorial Park.

The renovated monument and new park name were unveiled in a ceremony on June 15, 1967, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

The 44th Battalion monument stood alone in the park until 1992, when the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Association monument was erected in the northwest corner. It lists the names of the men who were murdered while prisoners of war at Le Chateau d’Audrieu, France in June 1944 and commemorates the 529 members of the Rifles who died in active service during the war.

Other memorials were added to the park this century, starting with the 12th Manitoba Dragoons / 18 Armoured Car Regiment monument in 2000. This was followed in 2015 by a bronze statue that pays tribute to military gunner Andrew Charles Mynarski V.C., a Winnipegger who was awarded the Victoria Cross after his death.

The most recent memorial added to the park in 2022 commemorates the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. It features a statue, bench, and granite tablets that tell the story of the unit during the two World Wars.

The memorial area of the park underwent an extensive renovation in 2018 that included wider walking paths, lighting, and new landscaping to better accommodate the growing number of visitors and memorial ceremonies at the park.