Alberta

The Lacombe Afghanistan Memorial is a tribute the 158 Canadian Service men and women who paid the ultimate price during our country's time in the theatre of operations in Afghanistan (2001 - 2014).  The City of Lacombe is home to the last Canadian killed in action, MCpl Byron Greff.

The Monument features a LAV III that has been fully decomissioned and is displayed proudly in the Field of Honour inside Fairview Cemetery.

This memorial was erected by the town of Beaumont and unveiled in 1991. The slab is dedicated to 10 airmen from the Canadian Armed Forces who were killed when 2 Hercules transport planes collided in mid-air on March 29, 1985.

This Memorial is located in the Field of Honour in Leduc Cemetery. This Memorial marks the Field of Honour with pride and distinction. The flag is lowered to half mast for the funerals of ex-service personnel.

The Breton Cenotaph was constructed in1955 in memory of the fallen from the First and Second World Wars. It was unveiled on November 1, 1969, in a joint project of the Breton Town Council and Warburg Legion Branch 205. The unveiling was by the Honourable Grant McEwan, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta and the Provincial President of the Royal Canadian Legion, Comrade Bill Gordon. It was dedicated by Reverend Dr. Gerald Hutchinson.

This memorial is dedicated to those who made the supreme sacrifice. It was erected by Royal Canadian Legion Branch no. 86 and the City of Wetaskiwin. It was unveiled 14 September 1955 and was designed by Bob Angus.

The Village of Bentley does not have a monument, as such. The Legion bought land that was designated for a sports area. It then was turned over to the Village of Bentley. A car raffled off on December 10, 1947 (a man from Castor, Alberta won it - R.B. Lane), and the money from the project went into the Legion Memorial Fund. With this money, a commemorative memorial to our deceased veterans was built. It was in the form of a gateway to the sports grounds and was similar to that depicted in the above drawing. In the centre was a cairn on which was inscribed the roll of honour. At a later time, an addition was made to the curling rink, necessitating the removal of the cairn. The plaque was removed and put into the arena. The arch was mounted on the front of the arena. This is the way it now stands.

The Lest We Forget Park was erected by the Lest We Forget Club. The Club was composed of a group of dedicated widows, wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters of Veterans of the First World War. They established the park in 1922 after a parcel of land was donated from the Lacombe School Board. The Club raised money for the park through a fair with tea cup readings; silver tea and bake sales combined with concerts and fortune telling; and dances. A concert by local artists was held in the Vet theatre in October of the same year. 

The park and gate were designed by Cecil Scott Burgess. Burgess was an important architect and popular academic at the University of Alberta. The design is based on an axial plan with the cenotaph serving as the central element. All pathways into the park had a direct sight line to the cenotaph. The park was officially opened in mid-1925 by Mayor P. Pratt.

Each family in the district was invited to plant a tree in memory of a member who died in the war. Trees represented the promise of everlasting life. The growth of the trees was not anticipated and when it became necessary to uproot some, there was considerable controversy and bad feelings over which ones to remove. The date for the uprooting is not known.

This certificate lists the members of St. Mary's Anglican Church who served during the Second World War.

In 1919, the Great War Veterans Association branch in Lacombe sought input for their proposed memorial to honour those who suffered and gave their lives in the First World War. Conflict erupted between those in favour of a memorial hall and those in favour of a monument. It is not known how the Great War Veterans Association dealt with the debate.

The Lacombe Cenotaph was erected in the Lest We Forget Park in 1924 by the Lest We Forget Club. The Club was composed of a group of dedicated widows, wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters of Veterans of the First World War. The Club raised money for the cenotaph through a fair with tea cup readings; silver tea and bake sales combined with concerts and fortune telling; and dances. A concert by local artists was held in the Vet theatre in October of the same year. McDonald Nurseries donated the plantings surrounding the cenotaph.

The cenotaph cost $3,500 and is comprised of an Italian Carrera marble sculpture of a soldier atop a two-level tapered granite column with decorated capital set on a rough-dressed granite base. Poppies are engraved on the corners, but the engraving on the panel on the second portion of the pedestal is unclear. Atop the cenotaph is a statue of a young soldier. Behind him, is a stump of a narrow tree with its main trunk and two branching limbs cut off close to the ground. Draped across the stump is a lily, representing purity, chastity, and innocence, and is the symbol of the resurrection and Easter.

The young soldier stands tall, chest out, holds the barrel of his rifle and gazes solemnly to the south. He is dressed as soldiers often were in the photos taken after enlistment for their families. It was designed by Albert J. Hart, owner of Albert J. Hart, Marble and Granite Works. Located in Calgary, it was one of the oldest marble and granite works in that city. Hart was a skillful and fair businessman who was an expert cutter and designer. He designed several cenotaphs across Canada including those for the City of Medicine Hat and the Town of Nanton.

The Lacombe Cenotaph was unveiled in October of 1924. It confronts the grief of those who survived the war and acknowledges the empty space left by the deceased, while offering hope of their continued existence in another place. The number of individuals from Lacombe who lost their lives in the First World War is startling. There are 72 names inscribed on the cenotaph, from a community with an estimated population of only 1,113 in 1912. Approximately one in every five men who enlisted died during the war.

The Lest We Forget Club donated the park to the Town of Lacombe in 1955 who maintained it as part of the grounds of the Lacombe Memorial Centre.

Erected in 1970 by local Dutch-Canadians, this memorial marks a group of trees planted in remembrance of those who were killed while liberating the Netherlands during the Second World War.