Canadian Korean War Memorial
Location:
7732 Mavis Road, Brampton, Peel Region, Ontario, Canada.
(Meadowvale Cemetery Section 1)
History:
The Wall of Remembrance was the result of three years of work and fund raising by the Veterans in Unit #57 (Mississauga).
The concept for the Memorial arose out of concern by a couple of Unit #57’s Officers that there was no lasting memorial contemplated which would commemorate, in a public way, the sacrifice made by Canadians in the Korean War. Like most of Canada’s dead in overseas campaigns, our Comrades were buried in countries where they died, often in Commonwealth
War Cemetery locations.
Some pictures of markers were taken by Bill Allan, President of Unit #57 on a re-visit and subsequently passed to the relatives. Upon seeing their gratitude and pleasure, Bill got the support of the Unit’s Secretary and Past President, George Mannion to undertake a project to build an accessible, permanent Memorial.
A Wall Committee was established to plan the Memorial and to raise funds for its construction. Members included Co-Founders, Bill Allan and George Mannion, plus Len Pelletier, Ben Mathers, Don Williams of Unit #57 and by Dave Davidson, Don Flieger, Sam Carr and by Clyde Bougie, one of the KVA founding members. They were assisted by Valerie Orr who was
hired as a consultant and adviser, covering many complex activities.
As plans and funding for the Wall neared completion, another group was assembled to arrange for the Dedication of the Memorial. Some of the Wall Committee were joined by Unit 423 members George Wilkinson, Roy Hall and Art Baker with Herb Pitts of Unit #57) as the Co-Ordinator. Other units in the general vicinity joined the effort, taking responsibility for some of the week-end events. These include Unit #52 (Ken Gawthorn), Unit #59 (Bill Crozier), Unit
#23 (Phil Ashe) and Unit #11 (Doug Finney).
Made of grey Barre granite, the Wall is about 200 feet in length and gently curves in conformance with a driveway. Sloping gently at 50 degrees, the two foot high Wall is built in a retaining wall fashion and consists of six or seven sections on each side of the central portion. Sections hold four rows of plaques arranged in alphabetical order of surnames, reading from top to bottom and left to right.
The central feature of the Memorial is a rectangular block flanked by two wings. The block contains the Korea Veterans Association, and the United Nations insignia as well the “Patches” of 25th Brigade and 1st Commonwealth Division. There is a list of all Canadian Units, Corps, Ships and Squadrons that participated in the War and the Peacekeeping period.
Transcription purchase:
Transcriptions of this cemetery are available for digital download from the OGS website – click here to order via credit card.