Nova Scotia

This Book commemorates the 705 men and women from Halifax County who gave their lives in the Second World War and Korean War. It was presented to the Halifax Memorial Library on May 29, 1955, by the Halifax County Chapter of the Silver Cross Women of Canada.

The Second World War and Korean War Book of Remembrance is bound in royal purple Newfoundland seal with white silk end papers. Norman U. Anderson designed the silver book clasps and bookmark. Each page of vellum parchment contains lettering and miniature illuminated scenes from around Halifax County, created by Henry Perley Bernasconi, as well as an embossed Silver Cross. The book also includes works by Will R. Bird, Laurence Binyon, John Gillispie Magee Jr., Alfred Lord Tennyson, hymns, and the Psalms of David.

The two other Books of Remembrance on public display are the Great War Book of Remembrance and the Third Book of Remembrance. The Central Library replaced the aging Halifax Memorial Library, which was rapidly deteriorating. 

This memorial is dedicated to the SS Point Pleasant Park. It was erected by the Park Commission.

This memorial is dedicated to Rear-Admiral Walter Hose. It was erected October 2nd, 1967 by the Officers and men of the RCN and the RCNR.

This memorial is dedicated to those who served on the ships during the Second World War. It was dedicated by The Atlantic Chief and Petty Officers Association in 1998.

This is the road that leads from the entrance of Point Pleasant Park to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Monument known as the Sailor's Memorial. The sign was erected under the auspices of the Naval Officers' Association of Nova Scotia.

Cook Avenue in Halifax, NS is named in memory of Lance Corporal Paul Martin (Mike) Cook of 1st Field Company. LCpl Cook was wounded in action in Sicily and died of his wounds in hospital in Malta on 2 August 1943. The Westmount Subdivision was constructed following the Second World War. The streets were named in honour of some of the service personnel from Halifax who were killed in the Second World War.

The Halifax Grand Parade Cenotaph was unveiled and dedicated on 1 July 1929, by former Prime Minister, Robert Borden. It commemorates Halifax's 1360 men and women who had died in the Great War. Thousands lined the rails around the Parade and crowded into surrounding streets, even mounting roof tops seeking better vantage points. At two minutes of 11 o'clock, a single gun sounded from Citadel Hill, followed by two minutes of respectful silence. The oration was given by then Minister of National Defence, James Layton Ralston. He commanded the 85th Battalion, known as the Nova Scotia Highlanders, during the war. He was a Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces when he was also President of the Rotary Club of Halifax in 1922.

The Grand Parade, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Parade Square, is an historic military parade square dating from the founding of Halifax in 1749. Through the efforts of the War Memorial Committee, the cenotaph was originally erected in the middle of the Grand Parade to commemorate the soldiers who served in the First World War. The Committee consisted of members of several Halifax Societies and City of Halifax Aldermen. Funding for the construction was derived from citizen donations, Committee fund-raising efforts and a grant from the City of Halifax.  

The sculpture was designed by J. Massey Rhind, a Scottish-American sculptor. He began his studies under his father then attended the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy as a 15-year old prodigy and continued his studies with Jules Dalou in Lambeth, England. He continued his studies in England, then two more years in Paris and moved to New York in 1889 when he was 29. After the First World War, Rhind lived in Chester, Nova Scotia. He developed a love for the area and decided to design and donate this memorial that stands on the Parade Grounds today. His work in Nova Scotia includes the New Glasgow Cenotaph, Chester Cenotaph and Cornwallis Statue.

The cenotaph is nine-meters tall, the granite is Nova Scotian and the original elements are all cast bronze. The sculpture on the cenotaph depicts a victorious but grieving Britannia representing Nova Scotia’s mothers. Known as the Highlander, the bronze figure was valued at $6,500. Russell Zinck was chosen to model for the Highlander as he was perceived to have a face representative of the people of the area. The base and steps of the memorial were donated by the village and cut from a single piece of granite by Wakefield Zinck. At the base of the cenotaph is the Canada Coat of Arms with the Silver Cross below it. There is a large laurel leaf at the top of the back of the cenotaph, and bronze laurel leaves on each side of the cenotaph.

After the Second World War, the cenotaph was rededicated and inscriptions were incised in the granite in a font similar to the 1929 bronze text. The rededication/inscription date is not known. After the Korean War, an inscription was incised on the rear of the cenotaph below the Second World War inscription. The rededication/inscription date is not known. The Korean War dates were added to the front in 1986. In 2015, the Afghanistan Conflict inscription was added to the back of the cenotaph. On October 17, 2010, a concrete arch was unveiled as a memorial to peace officers killed in the line of duty.

Chief Petty Officer Bernays was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1910. He joined the merchant marine at an early age and in the 1930s served with Canadian National Steamships. In 1929, he joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve and was mobilized for the Second World War in 1939.

Serving in small ships, in 1941 he became the coxswain in the corvette HMCS Matapedia conducting convoy escort duties in the Atlantic. In March 1942, he was promoted to Acting Chief Petty Officer and drafted, as the coxswain, to the River-class destroyer HMCS Assiniboine, also engaged in Atlantic convoy escort.

On 6 August 1942, in an intense surface gun action against the German submarine U-210, HMCS Assiniboine maneuvered in and out of fog attempting to ram and sink the enemy submarine. Both vessels were firing high explosive shells at very close range, causing a fire which engulfed the bridge and wheelhouse of Assiniboine. Surrounded by smoke and flames, while steering the ship, Bernays ordered the two junior sailors to get clear, leaving him alone at the helm and trapped by the blaze. Besieged by flames, he executed all the helm orders as Assiniboine maneuvered for position against the U-boat, and did the work of the two telegraphmen, dispatching over 130 telegraph orders to the engine room. Several bullets and shells penetrated the wheelhouse as the enemy concentrated their machine-gun and cannon fire on the bridge. Eventually Assiniboine rammed and sank U-210 in what was considered to be an extremely hard fought action, during which the Canadians suffered one fatality and 13 wounded.

He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for his valour and dauntless devotion to duty during the action. There remained some controversy with this award, as the Flag Officer Newfoundland Force, Rear-Admiral L.W. Murray Royal Canadian Navy, initially recommended him for the Victoria Cross. While the Royal Canadian Navy Honours and Awards Committee upheld this recommendation, British authorities decided the recommendation did not meet the strict criteria of a Victoria Cross and he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal instead – he was one of only two members of the Royal Canadian Navy to receive the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal during the Second World War. Regardless, there remains a strong feeling that he deserved the higher award.

Post-war he stayed in the Royal Canadian Navy, served in the Korean War and retired as a Chief Petty Officer on February 20, 1960.

This bust of Chief Petty Officer Max Leopold Bernays was sculpted in 2011 by Christian Corbet. In 2012, Christian was named the Royal Canadian Navy sculptor-in-residence. This was the first such honour to be bestowed by the Royal Canadian Navy. He received it in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Royal Canadian Navy and the preservation of its legacy.

Christian began working with the Royal Canadian Navy in 2010, which was Canada’s Naval Centennial. He offered to donate a sculpted bust of Admiral Sir Charles Kingsmill, known as the Father of the Royal Canadian Navy. The Royal Canadian Navy’s appreciation of this gift inspired Christian to donate a second bust in 2011. This one was of Chief Petty Officer Max Bernays.

This memorial is dedicated to those who died in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War as well as the Fenian Raid of 1866.

This memorial is dedicated to those who served in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War. It was erected by the Royal Canadian Legion, Nova Scotia Command.