Canada Memorial - Green Park, London, UK
N 51° 30.172 W 000° 08.549
30U E 698317 N 5709619
The Canada Memorial, to World Wars I and II, is to be found in the southern part of Green Park just north of Buckingham Palace and the Canada Gates.
Waymark Code: WMKJ6D
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/20/2014
Views: 8
The Royal Parks website tells us:
The Canada Memorial was unveiled by the Queen in 1994 and remembers the one million Canadians who served with British forces during the two World Wars.
The narrow walkway, dividing the memorial in two, faces the direction of the Canadian port of Halifax in Nova Scotia, from where many Canadian service personnel sailed for Europe.
The bronze leaves embedded in the granite are maple, the national symbol of Canada. The designer was the Quebec artist, Pierre Granche.
The Canada Memorial is located only a short walk into the park from Canada Gate and Buckingham Palace.
Details of the memorial are given at the War memorials Archive.
The memorial has a water feature that is divided into two parts. The passage between the parts is aligned with Halifax, in Canada, and the compass rose is positioned on that line.
The main inscription on the compass rose reads:
In two World Wars
One million Canadians
came to Britain
and joined the fight for freedom
"from danger shared, our friendship prospers"
This is repeated in French on the opposite side of the rose.
Around the circumference of the rose is an inscription, in English and French, that reads:
This monument was made possible by the generosity of ordinary people in Canada and Britain and in particular Canadian Veterans of both World Wars who donated willingly for this cause. It was conceived and realised by the Canada Memorial Foundation (Conrad M Black, PC and W Galen Weston Co Chairman) which is particularly grateful for their assistance to: Her Majesty the Queen and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, Canadian High Commissioners Donald MacDonald and Fredrik Eaton, Environment Secretary Michael Heseltime, Heritage Secretary Peter Brooke and Major General Desmond Smith.
A further inscription on the circumference advises:
Sculpture by: Pierre Granche
Built by: Trollope & Cole
Project Managed by: Ove Arup & Partners
3rd June 1994