Monday Monuments and Memorials – Vimy Monument models, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa

April 15, 2019 by greatwar100reads Leave a comment

Vimy Memorial model by Walter Allward, at Canadian War Museum

Walter Allward’s plaster cast of Justice for the Vimy Memorial

Marking the anniversary of two Canadian milestones, 65 years apart.

April 9 -12 marks the 102^d anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, part of the Battle of Arras. On a snowy Easter Monday in 1917, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together for the first (and only) time. Training and tactics won the ridge, but at the cost of about 3,600 Canadian lives.

April 17 marks the 37^th anniversary of the patriation of the Canadian Constitution. Part of the Constitution Act, 1982 is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Regeneration Hall in the Canadian War Museum houses a 1:100 model of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, as well as 17 half-size plaster models of the figures designed by Walter Allward for the monument.

The Canadian government selected Vimy Ridge as a site of Canadian remembrance, creating a 250-acre memorial park and the Canadian National Vimy Memorial on the former battleground. The model of Justice is a reminder of the value of the rule of law, and what we lose without it … the ideals of justice, freedom, sacrifice and peace.