Canadian War Memorials Fund National Historic Event of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Posted by: 
colincan
N 45° 25.020 W 075° 42.956
18T E 443984 N 5029524
In the First World War Lord Beaverbrook established funding to allow artists through their works to document the contribution of our military and civilians to the war effort. He used considerable personal wealth to accomplish this.
Waymark Code: WMZT34
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 12/31/2018
Views: 19
The Canadian War Records Office was tasked with documenting the national war effort of World War One. It amassed material such as maps, photos, films and art work to depict for future generations our military participation in “the war to end all wars.” Sam Hughes was Minister of Militia and Defence at the time but he was unceremoniously sacked by Prime Minister Borden in 1916. His ministry had been overseeing the CWRO. Lord Beaverbrook, who had been administering CWRO, saw that a breach of the recording process had occurred. He instituted the Canadian War Memorials Fund from England, where he had emigrated, to pick up the slack. In particular he contracted over 100 artists to paint war scenes, a medium he thought at the time would hold up better than celluloid or photos. Artists such as A.Y. Jackson, David Milne, Frederick Varley and Maurice Cullen all became official war artists under the terms of the program. Most of them actually got access to the battlefields. Sculptor Florence Wyle was commissioned to capture war activity (such as women in munitions factories) on the home front. The Canadian War Memorials Fund was designated of national significance in 2016 and a federal plaque was installed at the Canadian War Museum, Lebreton Gallery, in 2018.
Classification: National Historic Event
Province or Territory: Ontario
Location - City name/Town name: Canadian War Museum, Ottawa
Link to Parks Canada entry (must be on www.pc.gc.ca): [Web Link]
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca: Not listed
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