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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Harold Oakley Leach

In memory of:

Lieutenant Harold Oakley Leach

September 2, 1918
Cambrai, France

Military Service


Age:

28

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Machine Gun Corps

Division:

4th Bn.

Honours and Awards:

Military Cross

Additional Information


Born:

May 2, 1890
Calgary, Alberta

Enlistment:

September 5, 1916
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Son of Rev. John Joshua Leach, Ph.B., and of Mary Emma Lapan Leach, of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Commemorated on Page 447 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

VIMY MEMORIAL
Pas de Calais, France

Grave Reference:

N/A

Location:

Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:

TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA


Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France. A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII. The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made. On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram September 1918. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Harold Leach– From: The Varsity Magazine Supplement Fourth Edition 1918
published by The Students Administrative Council, University of Toronto.  
Submitted for the Soldiers' Tower Committee, University of Toronto, by Operation Picture Me.
  • Photo of Harold Leach– Torontonensis 1913 (University of Toronto Year Book), pg. xxx.  Caption: EXECUTIVE OF WESTERN CLUB, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, 1912-13.
  • Newspaper Clipping– Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
  • Honour Roll– From the "University of Toronto / Roll of Service 1914-1918", published in 1921.
  • Memorial Plaque– Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
  • Newspaper clipping– In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune during World War One. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune during World War One. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune during World War One. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
  • Vimy Memorial– Canada's Vimy Memorial, located approximately 8 kilometres to the north-east of Arras, France. May the sacrifice of so many never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
  • Inscription– His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial. Over 11,000 fallen Canadians having no known place of burial in France, are honoured on this Memorial. May they never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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