Vernon's Memorial Wall stands immediately west of the Vernon cenotaph, which was initially erected as a World War I memorial. The wall is primarily a World War II memorial, but includes plaques for the Korean War, erected by the Korea Veterans Association, and plaques dedicated to members of both the Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Merchant Navy. The latter recognizes members of the Merchant Navy who participated in World Wars I & II and the Korean War.
The Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 25, added this plaque to the wall, inscribed with the words "Lest We Forget". Made of black stone, it was made to match the plaques of the Air Force, the Korean War and the UN Peacekeepers.
The wall is a low, wide exposed aggregate concrete wall of about four feet by twenty feet in size. Atop the centre is a cross, representing a Canadian Soldier's grave, with the words "In Remembrance" below. On the west side of the wall is a mural of poppies and the opening lines of the
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae poem
In Flanders Fields... The poppies blow...
between the crosses... Row on row
The other plaques read as follows:
LEST WE FORGET
DEDICATED IN MEMORY
OF THOSE WHO DIED
IN THE SERVICE OF CANADA
DURING WORLD WAR II
1939 - 1945
CANADIAN MERCHANT NAVY
1914 - 1918
1939 - 1945
1950 - 1953 |
CANADA
MN |
LIFELINE
OF THE
WORLD |
KOREA WAR
1950 - 1953