Parks

This memorial is dedicated to the 22 Wing and was officially opened on June 8, 2011.  It features storyboards describing important events and the rich history of the airbase in the city. 

Doug Newman, CD2 re-organized the Air Defence Park and designed the memorial signs.  Wing Imagery created the signs from the designs and produced electronic files, which in turn were manufactured for display in the park by a local company.  The person in charge of the project was Major John Blair, at the time the 22 Wing Air Reserve Flight Commander. 

The Air Defence Park also commemorates two Royal Air Force airmen who were killed in a flying training accident at the airfield during the Second World War, six years before the air base was founded.  They were the first aviation deaths of any kind, military or civilian, in the North Bay region.  One was from England, the other Scottish; hence an oak tree and Scotch Pine were planted in the park in their honour.

Manotick Remembrance Park was opened on 2 July 2017, by the City of Ottawa and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 214. It is as a place to remember and to reflect on the contributions made by those who served their country in war and peace. The park contains six floral gardens dedicated to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Merchant Navy, Peacekeeping under a United Nations mandate, and Homefront.

Foot Guards Park is named in honour of the Governor General's Foot Guards. It was dedicated on May 16, 2014 by the City of Ottawa. The Governor General’s Foot Guards was formed on June 7, 1872 in Ottawa. The Regiment has been headquartered at the Cartier Square Drill Hall since 1879.

Members of the Regiment took part in the Nile Expedition of 1884 and the following year provided a company of sharpshooters to the Battleford column during the Northwest Resistance, where the Regiment suffered its first two casualties at the battle of Cut Knife Hill. During the South African War the Regiment contributed volunteers for the various Canadian contingents, mainly the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry.

The Governor General’s Foot Guards perpetuates two battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who took part in the First World War. The 2nd (Eastern Ontario) battalion “The Iron Second”, which was a part of the 1st Canadian Division and saw continuous service on the Western front from 1915 to end of war in 1918. The 2nd Battalion also fought at the battles of Ypres, St. Julien, Festubert, Pozières, Vimy (1917), Arleux, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, and Canal du Nord, to name only a few. By the end of the war, 242 officers and 5,084 other ranks had fought with the battalion. Of those, 52 officers and 1,227 other ranks were killed. The 77th (Ottawa) battalion provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps until 22 September 1916, when its personnel were absorbed by the 47th Battalion (British Columbia), Canadian Expeditionary Force and the 73rd Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) and the battalion was disbanded. The honours and traditions of these battalions are perpetuated by the Governor General’s Foot Guards.

During the Second World War the Governor General’s Foot Guards was mobilized in May 1940. In 1942 the regiment was re-rolled to become an armoured unit to address the need for more armoured units in the Canadian Army, assuming the name “21st Canadian Armoured Regiment (Governor General’s Foot Guards)”. It embarked for Great Britain on 23 September 1942. On 24 July 1944, it landed in France as part of the 4th Armoured Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division and it continued to fight in northwest Europe until the end of the war taking part in the battle of Normandy, the battle of the Scheldt, and the Rhineland. Over the course of the war the Regiment’s casualties were 101 dead and 284 wounded. Forceful III, a Sherman tank that served with the regiment is currently on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa and is dedicated to the memory of the members of the Governor General’s Foot Guards killed during the Second World War.

In the intervening years, members have participated in numerous United Nations and NATO operations, including service in the Cyprus, Somalia, the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Haiti, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone. During the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, the Governor General’s Foot Guards deployed numerous members, taking part Task Force 3-06, Task Force 3-08, and Task Force 1-10 in Kandahar, as well as the Op ATTENTION training mission in Kabul.

Presently the Governor General’s Foot Guards provides individual augmentation to regular force when they deploy on operations. Most recently the regiment has deployed members on Op IMPACT in Iraq and Jordan, Op CALUMET in Egypt, Op SOPRANO in Sudan, Op REASSURANCE in Poland and Latvia, and Op UNIFIER in the Ukraine.

The Regiment maintains a robust domestic response capability to support Canadians at home in the event of natural disaster or emergency. The regiment has deployed soldiers to the 1998 Ice Storm, floods 2017 and 2019, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

For service on active duty, members of the Regiment have been awarded over 500 decorations, including 3 Victoria Crosses. The regiment has 34 Battle Honours.

Richmond Memorial Park was developed by the Township of Goulbourn in 1988. Richmond is the second oldest military settlement in Ontario. The first settlers were soldiers and their families from British Army regiments that were disbanded in Canada in the late 1800s.

Remembrance Gardens Memorial Park was created by the Remember November 11 Association and dedicated on 29 August 2015. It was built as a living memorial to the sacrifices made by Canada's military and their families. Additions to the park were made possible from generous donations from Fisher Landscape, Triple H Concrete, Blue Con Construction, Heeman’s Nursery, Blue Jay Irrigation and Hunter Industries, plus many other companies and donations. The stone carving was contributed by Custom Rock Creations.

The main garden is in the shape of a poppy surrounded by crushed white marble. The black and white paving stones pathways through the poppy are two feet wide and almost 100 feet long. They are edged with red mulch to help define the shape. Hundreds of poppy plants are located in the garden.

These memorials are located within the park:
Vimy Ridge Memorial Garden
Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial
Royal Canadian Navy Memorial
Canadian Army Memorial
Peacekeeper Day Memorial
Canadian Army Veterans Motorcycle Units Memorial
Korean War Memorial
No Known Grave, Missing in Action or Prisoner of War Memorial
D-Day Memorial
Liberation of the Netherlands Memorial
Battle of Hong Kong Memorial
Dieppe Raid Memorial
Victims of Chemical Warfare Memorial
Pilot Officer Albert Dorey Memorial
Sapper George Fortnum Memorial
Staff Sergeant Arthur Savage Memorial
Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson Memorial
Rifleman Edward James Ryan Memorial
Sergeant Thomas William Dore Memorial

This park is named in memory of Private Francis Masterson McGarrell.

Francis Masterson McGarrell grew up on Piccadilly Street in London ON. In 1942, he joined the military and following his initial training, was assigned as an instructor at A-20 Canadian Army Training Centre Red Deer, responsible for trades training for the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. He remained in Red Deer for 2 years, attaining the rank of Sergeant but decided to relinquish his rank to be transfered overseas. He was assigned to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI) and remained with them throughout the European campaign. He was killed in action on 2 March 1945, as the RHLI fought in the Kalkar-Xanten area of Germany. Private Francis McGarrell is buried in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, 10km south-east of Nijmegan.

This memorial parkette was created on behalf of Honorary Colonel Charles W. Fox, DFC, to honour the men and women of the Canadian Air Force and the RCAF.

Trooper Mark Wilson Park is named in memory of Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson who was killed near Kandahar, Afghanistan, on 07 October 2006. 

Mark Andrew Wilson was born in December 1966 in London ON. After graduating from high school, he moved to Lindsay ON to attend Sir Sanford Fleming College where he studied Fish and Wildlife Management as well as Law and Security Studies. His passion for the outdoors led him to Killarney ON, where he and his wife operated a B&B and outfitting company. Being an adventurer at heart, Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan led him to join the military.

In early 2003 he began his basic training and embraced the challenges of training with much younger recruits. In early August 2006, he deployed to Kandahar as a gunner and driver with his unit, the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCDs). During the following weeks, the RCDs were involved in OP MEDUSA and on 7 October, Trooper Wilson’s vehicle was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Panjwaii District, near Kandahar. He was killed instantly, just two months from his 40^th birthday. Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson is buried at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in London ON.

Veterans Way Memorial Park was dedicated on September 27, 2015 and began with a field concert performed by the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces. The ceremony was well attended by local dignitaries, special guests and Veterans representing the Army Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada, Provincial and Zone Command officers of the Royal Canadian Legion and the NATO Veterans Organization of Canada along with retired and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, their families and friends.

The park is a special site of remembrance and reflection that was created to honour all those that served and continue to serve in the Canadian, British and United States of America Armed Forces. The concept for a Veterans Way Memorial Park was brought to the attention of North Grenville Municipal Council through a site and business plan that was developed by the Veterans Way Memorial Committee comprised of Chairman Owen Fitz'Gerald, Communications Officer Roy Brown, Councillor Tim Sutton and Douglas Brunton. It was unanimously approved and adopted by Council on August 8, 2011.

During the years that followed, three flagpoles flying the Canadian, Royal Union (Union Jack) and United States of America flags were added to the site along with park identification signage, two steel park benches and finally an M109A4+ Self-Propelled Howitzer Memorial Monument.

In 1998, this property was left to the town of Gananoque by Duffy Macully as long as the Gananoque Legion Branch 92 used it for a park. Douglas Wood, 2^nd Vice at Branch 92, took on the project even spending his own money to make the park as nice as he could. Douglas was a member of Legion Riders, which consist of United Nations Veterans, and they asked the town if they could be responsible for the park.

In 2011, the park was renamed to Legion Riders Memorial Park and dedicated to all who served - past, present and future. The park has flower beds, benches, a bed of corn poppies from Flanders Fields, a mighty oak seedling from Vimy Ridge and the Canadian Peacekeepers Monument.