Newfoundland & Labrador

In 2015, a busy highway through Conception Bay South has been named Peacekeepers Way. The Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association advocated strongly for the new name. It commemorates the enormous cost of the freedom we enjoy and the peace that has been achieved in so many areas around the globe.

The Conception Bay South LAV lll Monument was dedicated on 2 October 2022 and recognizes the sacrifices of military members who served in Afghanistan. Eleven wreaths were laid in remembrance of 11 Newfoundland and Labrador Veterans who lost their lives in the Afghanistan War. 

Light Armoured Vehicles (LAV) III were originally manufactured by Canadians at General Dynamics Land Systems Canada in London, Ontario and were instrumental to troops in carrying out their missions while in Afghanistan. The monuments were created from decommissioned LAV III hulls, donated by the Government of Canada and built by Militex Coating Inc. and Fanshawe College students in London, Ontario.

The names of 820 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve and the Mercantile Marines who gave their lives in the First World War and whose final resting places were then unknown are inscribed on these plaques. They are replicas of the ones unveiled at Beaumont-Hamel on 7 June 1925.

Engineer Randal Power of College of the North Atlantic and a team from Morgan Sculptures Inc., the company responsible for replicating and installing the plaques, painstakingly studied, documented and scanned the three-piece monument in France. The replicas were generated without even touching the master plaques, using advancements in virtual and manufacturing sciences. Having the memorial plaques replicated and mounted in Bowring Park was an initiative of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The plaques were unveiled on 1 July 2009.

Directly across from the Beaumont Hamel Memorial Plaque Replicas is The Caribou Monument.

This 2003 painting by Joe Dwyer was donated by the Cambridge Newfoundland Club. The painting shows the explosion from a German torpedo that struck the side of the SS Saganaga on September 5, 1942. SS Lord Strathcona, is anchored in the background.

Four fully-loaded ships were anchored in Bell Island Tickle on the morning of 5 September 5 1942. Two more ships were loading iron ore at the Scotia and Dominion piers. At 11:46 am, an explosion on SS Saganaga sent two sailors, decking and ore high into the air. Another explosion occurred moments later, as a second torpedo struck the ship. Cut nearly in two, Saganaga sank in just 30 seconds. With no warning of the attack, many drowned inside the sinking ship. Twenty-nine sailors died in the attack, most of the crew was from the United Kingdom.

The survivors struggled to swim in the cold seawater. Crew of nearby Lord Strathcona abandoned ship to help Saganaga's survivors. In the confusion, Lord Strathcona swung about, hitting the submarine’s conning tower, but U-boat 518 recovered quickly and sank Lord Strathcona.

This plaque commemorates those who were members of the congregation and gave the supreme sacrifice in the Second World War. There is a Presbyterian, Burning Bush Insignia at the superior aspect of the plaque.

This plaque commemorates members of the congregation who died in the First World War. Some of these Church members lived outside St. John’s. It was funded by donations from members of the church.

There are 23 names listed as members of the Church which includes eight individuals who were also members of the Newfoundland Highlanders. The congregational plaque is topped by the Presbyterian Church badge - the Burning Bush. It was dedicated at a service on June 12, 1921.

The War Memorial Window was created by A. Ballantine and Son of Edinburgh, Scotland and placed in the sanctuary and dedicated on May 28, 1922. James Ballantine, principal of the stained glass company, travelled to Newfoundland to help install the window. “A Veteran of the Great War himself, and a good friend of one of the young men the window commemorates, Mr. Ballantine had a particular interest in seeing that the window was a fitting memorial.” The most likely friend of James Ballantine from St. Andrew’s was Gilbert Thomas Gordon.

The window was funded by generous donations from members of the congregation of St. Andrew’s. In the first, or left light our attention is immediately drawn to the figure in the forefront - a boy reading at a desk, with a teacher and angel above him. It is that of one upon whose features the fresh bloom of youth still rests. In his hands he holds the ‘Book of Books’, which he has been thoughtfully reading. He has been pondering deeply over the part he may soon be called upon to play in the great struggle, the fires of which have already been lit. As he listens to the words of a wise counsellor, the sudden gleam in his eyes suggests to us that he has made his great decision. He will be true to himself and the Christian principles he has been taught. He will grasp firmly the torch of duty and by its light he will step bravely along that difficult path which stretches out before him.

In the center light is an image of an angel and a kneeling knight in armour with broken sword. An angel holding a laurel wreath is above the knight. Our soldier, has returned tired and worn from the conflict. We see him on his knees, but not as one defeated. He has cast aside his helmet and with uncovered head and with the hand which held his now broken sword, symbol of duty done, uplifted he looks up to receive the victor’s laurel wreath.

In the third light is an image of a knight in armour, wearing helmet, standing with sword and spear in hand, an angel is behind the knight’s Red Cross banner. Our youth has accepted the challenge and goes forth in the pride of young manhood, to answer the call of duty. Fully clad in the armour of a Christian Soldier, with sword in hand, and the banner of the Red Cross held high, with face set he goes out to meet unknown dangers, and perhaps death itself.

The wording through three small windows above the main window states, "Be thou faithful unto death.” Which is from Rev. 2:10 and is followed in the text, but not the window by - "And I will give thee a crown of life."

This plaque commemorates members of the Newfoundland Highlanders a paramilitary, pre First World War group that gave the supreme sacrifice in the Great War. It was funded by donations from members of the church.

Although the Highlanders were affiliated with St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, many members had their home congregation in other churches. Twenty-six names are on the plaque and eight of those, as they were members of St. Andrew’s Church, are also on the congregational plaque.

The plaque, at its superior aspect, has affixed a Newfoundland Highlander Badge - a Caribou with ‘Newfoundland Highlanders’ in scroll under it. The plaque was dedicated at a service on June 12, 1921.

Sculptor Morgan MacDonald's idea for One Hundred Portraits of the Great War came from working on different war memorials in Newfoundland and Labrador, and meeting many people with strong connections to the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel and the First World War. For this memorial, he cast the faces of 100 descendants of Newfoundland Regiment soldiers from the First World War and erected it in Victoria Park in 2018. Inspired by the memory of his own grandfather, Morgan named it One Hundred Portraits of the Great War. It was unveiled on November 4, 2018.

It is a living memory featuring the families who have carried pain, loss, and pride throughout the last century. To make the face casts, Morgan covered the volunteers' eyebrows and hairline with Vaseline to help remove the mask later. Mixing a product called alginate with water, he created a gooey paste that covered their face. MacDonald and assistant Debbie Lake applied the paste to their face, blackened the room and forced the nose and mouth to close. Volunteers had to stay still and breathe through straws while the casting hardened. It took 10 to 15 minutes for the alginate to harden enough for the next step.

Morgan then used microcrystalline foundry wax, dried it and reapplied it until it was about 6.5 mm thick. When the wax hardened, the alginate and plaster were carefully removed and the face cleaned. After casting each volunteer, Morgan arranged the bronze effigies, then welded the casts to an oval frame reminiscent of antique war portraits. It stands more than three-and-a-half meters high and weighs about 2,200 kilograms.

It took sculptor Morgan MacDonald four years and vats of molten bronze to complete One Hundred Portraits of the Great War. He is known for his bronze works and sculptural interpretations of Newfoundland and Labrador’s history and culture. Originally from Corner Brook, he was introduced to the bronze foundry process as a student at Memorial University of Newfoundland's Grenfell Campus. Morgan has completed many military pieces across the province:  The Homecoming, and Caribou Memorial Veterans Pavilion, St John's; Danger Tree and Private Hugh McWhirter Statue, Corner Brook; Monument of Honour, Conception Bay South; Cox's Cove War Memorial; and Sergeant Gander and his Handler Memorial; Gander.

The Homecoming features a bronze statue of a Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldier in uniform holding his cap with the caribou head badge in his hand near his hip. He is missing a piece of his ear — a reminder of the war and the bullet that nicked him as it whizzed past his head. He holds the hand of a smiling young girl, his daughter.

In honour of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War in 2018, the City accepted a proposal from local philanthropist Marty Gregory to erect a monument by Sculptor Morgan MacDonald in Bannerman Park. The statues were unveiled on June 30, 2018, by benefactor Marty Gregory and Mayor Danny Breen along with plenty of children — great-grandchildren of Sergeant Charlie Parsons, one of the heroic Monchy 10 soldiers, and six students from Beatrix Potter School in London who tend the graves of Newfoundlanders buried at Wandsworth Cemetery. The students were visiting the province for the first time since learning about the First World War through their work tending the graves of 18 Newfoundlanders who died during the conflict.

For a ceremony in St. John’s, there were quite a number of attendees from Spaniard’s Bay. The soldier depicted in the monument was somewhat based on Spaniard’s Bay Mayor Paul Brazil's grandfather, Lance Corporal Matthew Brazil, and many of his descendants now live in Spaniard’s Bay. Brazil was a Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldier during the First World War. Paul and benefactor Marty Gregory are first cousins. Paul said his grandfather had several injuries during the war — one of them was the bullet wound to his ear that’s depicted in the sculpture. Brazil survived Beaumont-Hamel and Gallipoli, survived what one telegraph described as "gunshot wounds face and leg, severe", and survived being gassed twice. He eventually had at least 50 grandchildren.

It took sculptor Morgan MacDonald one year to complete The Homecoming. He is known for his bronze works and sculptural interpretations of Newfoundland and Labrador’s history and culture. Originally from Corner Brook, he was introduced to the bronze foundry process as a student at Memorial’s Grenfell Campus. Morgan has completed many military pieces across the province: One Hundred Portraits of the Great War and Caribou Memorial Veterans Pavilion, St John's; Danger Tree and Private Hugh McWhirter Statue, Corner Brook; Monument of Honour, Conception Bay South; Cox's Cove War Memorial; and Sergeant Gander and his Handler Memorial; Gander.