British Columbia

Built in 1948, Grandview Heights in northeast Vancouver was developed as a sub-division to provide housing for Veterans after the Second World War. Falaise Park was named on July 16, 1956, by the City of Vancouver. The park is named in memory of those who fought at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket.

Falaise is a small French town, 35 km south of Caen, known for the battle of the “Falaise Pocket” during the Allied re-conquest of France (OPERATION OVERLORD) from August 12-21, 1944, in which two German armies were encircled and destroyed by the Allied armies. Some 10,000 German troops were killed and 50,000 taken prisoner. Much of the Falaise was destroyed before the town was taken by a combined force of Canadian and Polish troops. Falaise was largely restored after the war.

General Wolfe Elementary School is named in honour of Major-General James Peter Wolfe. The school was built in 1910 on the corner of Ontario Street and West 26^th Avenue, and is maintained by the Vancouver School Board.

Major General James Peter Wolfe (January 1727 – September 1759) is known chiefly for his victory at the Battle of Quebec in 1759. The son of a distinguished general, Wolfe was destined for a military career, entering his father’s 1st Marine Regiment at the age of thirteen. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) as well as in Flanders and in Scotland in 1746. The advancement of his career was halted by the Peace Treaty of 1748 and he spent much of the next eight years in garrison duty in the Scottish Highlands. Already a major at the age of eighteen, he was a lieutenant-colonel by the age of twenty-three.

The outbreak of the Seven Years’ War in 1756 offered Wolfe fresh opportunities for advancement. His part in the raid on Rochefort in 1757 led to his appointment as second-in-command of an expedition to capture the Fortress of Louisbourg. Following the success of the Siege of Louisbourg he was made commander of a force which sailed up the Saint Lawrence River to capture Quebec City. After a lengthy siege, Wolfe captured the city. Wolfe was killed at the height of the battle due to injuries from three musket balls.

The parishioners erected this memorial. This light stained glass memorial window is dedicated to Canadian Navy personnel and featuring the crest and the motto of the Royal Canadian Navy, and the crests of HMCS PROTECTEUR, HMCS VANCOUVER, and HMCS DISCOVERY.

This window is dedicated in memory of Lieutenant Harold Herber Owen, son of Cecil Owen, third rector of Christ Church, (1904-1919). Lieutenant Owen was killed in battle in 1916. It depicts a soldier in the First World War battle dress. Christ has come to take him across the River of Life to his eternal home, signified by three angels and the distant radiant Latin Cross. The Reverend Cecil Owen was one of the most loved of Vancouver's citizens; for the rest of his career (1921-1947, he retired at age 81) he was a hospital chaplain and was the primary force behind the founding of the World Wide Help Organization, Save the Children. At his funeral in 1954 the crowds flowed out of Christ Church Cathedral onto the streets as thousands came to pay their respects.

This window is a memorial dedicated to a young soldier, Private Norman Vincent Hughes, of the 196th Battalion, who lost his life in the First World War. Jesus is shown with hands outstretched, calling his first disciples, Andrew and Simon Peter. They are emerging from the waters of the Sea of Galilee with a catch of fish, reminding us that disciples were called to be 'fishers of men'. Saint Peter is robed in blue and brown, signs of truth and renunciation of the world. Saint Andrew is robed in violet; love and truth.

This window is a regimental tribute from the 102nd North British Columbians to one of their fallen comrades, Colonel John W. Warden, erected in 1947. The banner across the top of the window lists battles in which the regiment fought. Christ extends His hand in blessing over war graves, shown as crosses at his feet. The tree in the background has been cut down before its time. The poppies refer to Colonel John McCrae's famous First World War poem, "In Flanders Fields," which made the poppy an enduring symbol of wartime and self-sacrifice. Above Christ's head are five peace doves.

This memorial is dedicated to the members of the Royal Canadian Navy who gave their lives in the Second World War. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, was a bishop of Myra during the fourth century. The extended hand is a symbol of father and creator; the ship is a symbol of the word of God; the anchor represents hope. Traditionally the three figures in the Biblical dress at the bottom would be looking out over Jerusalem. Here they are seated on the Stanley Park Seawall watching a destroyer steaming under the Lions Gate Bridge. This is how West Vancouver looked in 1955. There was one row of lights along Marine Drive.

This memorial window is dedicated in memory of Air Force Pilot Robert Alfred Wilson who was 23 when he died somewhere over the Bay of Biscay, off the north coast of Spain and the west coast of France. His memory is expressed here in the image of a soldier in the service of Christ, fighting powers of evil, and clothed in God's armour: the helmet of salvation, the mail coat of integrity, the leather buckler of truth and the sword of the spirit. On the banner is the Royal Canadian Air Force motto: PER ARDUA AS ASTRA, "Through hardships to the stars."

This window is dedicated to the Nursing Sisters of Vancouver both in War and Peace. At the top of this window is the crest of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, and at the bottom right is the crest of the Vancouver General Hospital with the Maltese Cross.

At the bottom left is the family crest of Major Skitt Mathews. Major Matthews was the City of Vancouver's first archivist and this window is also a tribute to his wife who was a military nurse in the Second World War.

The Christ Church Cathedral is the Regimental Church of The Seaforth Highlanders and this window is a memorial to Major T. C. B. Vance who died in the Second World War. Major Vance was killed in action in Ortona, Italy on Christmas Eve 1943. The crest at the top of the window is of the Vancouver Regiment, The Seaforth Highlanders, whose motto is: "Cuidi Ch'n Righ" in Gaelic: Help the King.