Erected in 1922, this memorial is dedicated to the local war dead of the First and Second World Wars. The memorial was unveiled in January of 1923 at 1st Avenue and Gatacre Street. Since then, the memorial was moved to three different locations. During one of the moves, part of the memorial was broken and was never restored to its original state.
There are 41 First World War soldiers with a Ladysmith connection (born, lived or worked in Ladysmith and district) that are listed on the cenotaph. The list was compiled by the Ladysmith Chronicle and City Hall in the fall of 1922. People were requested to submit names of people they thought should be on the cenotaph. Soldiers listed come from the then City of Ladysmith and the surrounding district which was comprised of the original Oyster District, and included Saltair and Blaineys Crossing to the south of Ladysmith, and Brentons Crossing, North Oyster, Yellow Point, part of Cedar, Cassidy, South Wellington and Extension north of Ladysmith. Some of the war dead from areas north of Ladysmith were well known in Nanaimo as they were in Ladysmith and are on both cenotaphs. The original cenotaph dedicated in early 1923 had 40 names on it. Thomas Day's name was added later and so were the Korean War dates.
