The Verdun Victory Memorial was constructed by Coeur de Lion MacCarthy for the city of Verdun and dedicated to the local war dead of the First World War. It was unveiled on 5 October 1924 by Jane Leavitt, a Verdun mother who lost three of her five sons in the First World War. The memorial originally stood in a park at the corner of Wellington Street and Mullarkey Avenue (now LaSalle Boulevard), but was moved in front of the city hall in 1959.
One statue depicts a Canadian solder in an exultant attitude, his shrapnel helmet in hand and his rifle raised in the spirit of victory. At the base of the monument is a female figure, symbolic of patriotism and peace, holding in her right hand the flags of victory and supporting with her left hand a shield bearing the arms of the City of Verdun.
The Second World War and Korean War were later added to the memorial's inscription.
Coeur de Lion MacCarthy, the son of sculptor Hamilton McCarthy, produced numerous commemorative works after the First World War, including: Winged Victory in British Columbia; Great War Memorial and Lethbridge Cenotaph in Alberta; Winged Victory in Manitoba; County of Brome War Memorial, Verdun Victory Memorial, Monument to the Brave and Winged Victory in Quebec; Clifton Hill War Memorial and Woodstock Cenotaph in Ontario.
