Parks

In 1947, Victor Valde Memorial Park was named in honour of Pilot Officer Victor Lewis Valde. He enlisted and served as an air gunner with the Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed in action on 2 November 1944 at 20 years of age. Valde was the only son of Lewis and Emma Valde and attended Transcona Memorial United Church prior to enlistment.

Valde Avenue and Valde Lake are also named in honour of Pilot Officer Valde.

Magas Memorial Park was named in honour of the four Magas brothers that served in the Second World War. Flying Officer Fred Magas enlisted in December 1940 and served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Following training in Canada, Magas served overseas and was tasked with hunting U-boats in the Atlantic. He was honourably discharged in October 1945. For his service, he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star with clasp, Atlantic Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp, and War Medal 1939-1945. Following the war, Magas worked at the CN Transcona Shops.

Rifleman Harry Magas served overseas as a rifleman with the Royal Regina Rifles. He was killed in action on 6 July 1944 at 21 years of age. Magas Lake in Manitoba was also named in commemoration of Rifleman Harry Magas in 1972.

Corporal John Magas enlisted in 1940 and served with the Lorne Scots of the Canadian Army. He participated in the Normandy landings in 1944 and was discharged from the military in 1945. 

Little is known regarding Tony Magas’ active military service during the Second World War. He enlisted after 1943, served with the Royal Canadian Navy and was discharged in 1945.

On 7 March 2016, Billy McCann Memorial Park was named in honour of Flight Sergeant William Alexander McCann. He enlisted in the Second World War in January of 1941. Previous to joining the Air Force, he was a member of the Cameron cadets with whom he gained Dominion honours in marksmanship. Following enlistment, he was trained as an Air Gunner in Canada and was sent overseas in October of 1941. His plane, a Wellington Bomber, was shot down during a bombing raid over Bremen and he was killed in action on June 28, 1942.

It was on these very grounds that Billy spent may of his childhood days while attending Central School. He was regarded as an outstanding individual in collegiate athletic events, a member of the Transcona Rugby Club and a member of the Young People's Association of Knox United Church. He was the son of Mr. Alexander and Mrs. Florence McCann of 181 Oxford Street, Transcona, Manitoba.

Thomas F. Copeland Memorial Park was named in commemoration of Wireless Air Gunner Thomas F. Copeland in 1998. He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained in Canada through the British Commonwealth Air Training Program. Little is known regarding his active military service during the Second World War. Following the war, he worked as an accountant and municipal official in Transcona. Copeland also served as Mayor of Transcona (1960-1961) and was active with the Royal Canadian Legion Transcona Branch No. 7. He died on 28 January 1998 at 73 years of age.

Copeland Street was named in honour of Thomas Copeland in 1963.

This park is named after Andrew Mynarski, V.C. Mynarski was serving with 419 "Moose" Squadron when his plane was shot down. Preparing to jump from the blazing airplane, he saw that the rear gunner, Pat Brophy, was trapped in his gun turret, struggling to break free. Immediately, Mynarski turned from the escape hatch and made his way back through the flames, ignoring his friend's shouts of, "Go back! Save yourself!" After numerous attempts to release Brophy, Mynarski reluctantly make his way back to the hatch. His parachute and clothes ablaze, he offered his friend a final gesture of encouragement: he stood at attention and saluted. He jumped, but succumbed to his burns soon after landing. Miraculously, Brophy survived the crash. The plane hit a tree as it crashed to earth, breaking open the gun turret and throwing him free. He thus lived to tell of Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski's bravery. Andrew Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his effort to save another's life.

A Tommy Prince boulder was unveiled on October 6, 2013, replacing the old monument that was vandalized. The 12 boulders placed around the circular plaza symbolize 12 warriors and the 12 trees behind them stand for each of Prince’s medals. The 13th boulder represents Tommy Prince.

Sergeant Tommy Prince was a prominent Anishinaabe activist who served in the Second World War and Korean War. His story is one of the most widely known examples of the wartime contributions of Indigenous soldiers in the mid-20^th century and the poor treatment they received upon their return to civilian life in Canada. His accomplishments attracted national media attention during his lifetime and earned him a great many posthumous tributes.

Prince was born in October 1915 in St. Peter's Reserve, Manitoba. He was the great-grandson of respected Ojibwa Chief Peguis, and one of eleven children born to Elizabeth and Henry Prince. In 1920, they moved to Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Scanterbury, Manitoba. At age five, Prince was forced to leave his community and attend Elkhorn Residential School, where he joined the Cadet Corps. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from the residential school before he joined the military.

In 1940, he volunteered to fight for Canada in the Second World War. He rose from sapper to lance corporal with the Royal Canadian Engineers before volunteering for the 1^st Canadian Parachute Battalion in 1942. Soon after, he was assigned to the elite 1^st Canadian Special Service Battalion, which was attached to the First Special Service Force (Devil’s Brigade). He reached the rank of sergeant by war’s end, and was one of three Canadians to receive both the Silver Star (United States) and the Military Medal. King George VI presented him with both honours during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1945, shortly before Prince’s discharge from the army. 

He wanted to prove his people were as good as any white man and restore their good name. One way to achieve this was to acquire as many medals as possible and he did so without putting his men at risk. Before any patrols he would ensure they were camouflaged and everything was secured. Often he would patrol alone because there would be less noise. Prince was a natural warrior and he excelled as the military developed the skills he learned on the reserve while living off the land. He loved the Devil's Brigade and was always praising his men, "If it wasn't for my men, I wouldn't be who I am today." He was a caring man who loved to joke around and make people laugh.

He was a prominent leader in the Indigenous rights movement of the 1940s. After the war, he served as spokesperson and vice-president of the Manitoba Indian Association, and appeared on its behalf before a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons, tasked with studying the Indian Act. During his testimony in 1947, he advocated for the abolition of the Indian Act and respect for existing treaties, and presented submissions from Indigenous in Manitoba, which called for improved schools, better living conditions, and expanded hunting, trapping, and fishing rights.

In 1950, Prince re-enlisted in the Korean War. He contributed to the defence of Hill 677 in the Battle of Kapyong in 1951, for which the United States awarded the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry the Distinguished Unit Citation—the only time a Canadian unit has received this honour. Military service took a heavy toll on his health and, following his honourable discharge from the army, he faced a difficult return to civilian life in Manitoba. Prince endured discrimination, illness, and poverty in the years that followed and died in 1977. He fought many demons after residential school and the horrors of combat, but he never lost his humility, self-worth, sense of humour and pride of being Anishinaabe. 

Kapyong Park is a place for reflection on a key battle in Canada’s military history and was officially opened in June, 2019. Ian Legge was the Planning, Property & Development Department’s Landscape Architect behind the project. He wanted to pay tribute to the ten fallen soldiers by featuring ten granite boulders in the park. The boulders sit opposite from 70 white blocks, which also serves as seating for people. 

The chaotic paving stone pattern in the space between the boulders and blocks represent the two sides fighting. Legge designed the park elements to gradually increase in size the further west it goes and is oriented in the direction of Kapyong. The fence starts off really low and then has a raised angle which represents the ascent to the hill towards which the Canadians were fighting from.

The South Korean Government gifted a large granite boulder from the Kapyong region which can be seen at the entrance to Kapyong Park.

Memorial Provincial Park was originally the site of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Science. When the University amalgamated its campus in the Fort Garry location in the 1950s, this site was slated to become the home of the new city hall for Winnipeg. Noting the presence of a First World War cenotaph on the site, a number of Legion branches petitioned for the site to instead become a memorial park. In addition to the First World War cenotaph, the park would recognize the sacrifices made by Canadian Military personnel during the Second World War.

In 1961, the province, which already owned an adjacent parcel of land, acquired the site from the city. Former premier Duff Roblin envisioned Memorial Provincial Park as "a fitting tribute to those who gave their lives for Freedom”. The provincial park, including the City Hydro Fountain, is recognized as a Canadian military memorial. Memorial Park was dedicated on September 28, 1962 by Lieutenant Governor Errick Willis and Premier Duff Roblin.

Military memorials in the park include the Stephenson Monument ‘Intrepid’, Women’s Tri-Services Monument and Peacekeepers' Cairn. The Centennial Flame, British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Memorial – Airmen in Training, Cenotaph and flag poles are located outside the park on the Memorial Boulevard center median adjacent to the park.

The City Hydro Fountain is a landmark attraction within the park. The original water feature included a central mechanized fountain, which included sweeping waterscapes and light shows that alluded, in colour and movement, to the northern lights. In 2021, the fountain was reopened after being restored through 2019 - 2020 as part of the massive refurbishment project for Manitoba's 150 celebrations in 2020.

This plaque commemorates the world's first coloured circulation coin, The Poppy, November 2004. The coin was made to honour Canadian soldiers.

This area was dedicated on 5 November 2004. It honours the contributions of Cpl Leo Clark, Sgt-Major Frederick Hall and Lt. Robert Shankland, each awarded the Victoria Cross. The plaza was designed by landscape architect David Wagner. Pine Street was renamed Valour Road in their honour as well (see memorial # 46010-002)