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This memorial is dedicated to those who made the supreme sacrifice in the First World War, the Second World War, and Korea.

This memorial is dedicated to those who made the supreme sacrifice in the First World War, the Second World War, and Korea.

On February 22, 1919, a patriotic women’s group called the Daughters of the Flag appeared before the Township of West Garafraxa asking permission to use the north corner of Market Square for a cenotaph. At the April meeting, the Recreation Committee requested $500 to give the returning soldiers a ten-dollar gold piece each. The Township held two welcome receptions for its returned soldiers that year, one in June and another in November.

In the summer of 1920, the West Garafraxa Township Memorial Committee visited Cater and Worth Marble and Monuments in Galt. They chose a statue of a soldier carved in Italian white marble, standing at ease beside a grey granite stone with the names of the fallen set in metal lettering. It was designed by E.M. Worth of Cater and Worth Marble and Monuments in Galt. The engraving was completed by Cater and Worth, while the life size statue is the work of Italian sculptors and was imported from Italy.

In a ceremony on July 31, 1921, the cenotaph was unveiled by former Township Reeve John Gregson, whose son David Gregson was killed in 1915, and by 16-year-old Robert K. Hanna, who lost his father, John Sidney Hanna, in 1917. The cenotaph was rededicated on June 29, 1946.

The statue was removed in 2008 because it was showing considerable wear and a granite replacement statue was installed. The original statue was restored by Conservator Patty Whan and now stands outside the Archives wing of the Wellington County Museum and Archives.

The Stepping Out memorial honours women who served in the Canadian Women's Army Corps between 1941 to 1946. Names of those who died while on service are inscribed on plaques. The monument has a 6' 4" high bronze figure which depicts a young Canadian Women's Army Corps member. The figure depicts how she might have looked when "stepping out" on a pass in town during her basic training course at the wartime Kitchener Training Centre.

The monument was unveiled on May 5, 2001, by the Honourable Hillary Weston, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario and Karen Redman, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre. The unveiling was attended by some 1,500 Canadian Women's Army Corps veterans and relatives, the Mayor of Kitchener, Minister of National Defence representative, Chief of Defence Staff representative, the sculptor (André Gauthier of Orleans, Ontario) and Artcast Inc. Foundry representatives.

This memorial is dedicated to the veterans of the Second World War.

This memorial is dedicated to the local fallen soldiers in the First World War. It was erected by the citizens of Clifford. After the Second World War, two more names were added of those lost in that war.

The creation of Memorial Park and the Clifford Cenotaph was led by the Village Council and funded by an addition to the year’s property tax rate. The cenotaph, placed at the southeast edge of the park, was carved from Stanstead Grey granite from Quebec. The names of the fallen are set in raised lead.

Because Clifford lies on the border of two counties (Wellington and Huron), its citizens wanted the memorial to honour local war heroes without regard for municipal boundaries. Of the seven First World War soldiers honoured on the cenotaph, several are on the Minto Township Cenotaph in Harriston, others are on the Fordwich Cenotaph (Howick Township, Huron County), and one name – Private Douglas Bates – appears on all three memorials.

The cenotaph was restored in 2011, a project led by Stuart Douglas and the Rotary Club.

Reeve J.B. Skelton chaired a citizens’ committee with nine members, including several who had lost sons and relatives in the First World War, to discuss a war memorial. In August 1919, Palmerston’s citizens chose a Carrara marble statue of a soldier at ease, standing atop a grey granite base.

The Palmerston Cenotaph was funded by Town Council, delivered by W. J. Welsh and installed on December 15, 1919. It was officially unveiled the following year, along with two German machine guns, which were donated as scrap during the metal drives of the Second World War.

Many names of those who died in the First World War were added to the cenotaph in subsequent years, including the names of eight soldiers who returned home. The reason for these inclusions is not known - over 150 Palmerston residents enlisted, along with many others who had local connections.

Later, inscriptions were added to honour the Second World War and Korean War.

In common with many other communities, New Hamburg has honoured its war dead with a cenotaph, but few communities have had three cenotaphs over a period of 70 years. Plans for the first cenotaph began in 1918, but it was not erected until 1922. On December 6, 1918, interested citizens met at the library hall to discuss a monument in honour of New Hamburg's fallen heroes. A committee was appointed to carry out the commendable undertaking: Reeve Fred Debus, Chairman, S.G. Bratlett, Secretary, L.G. Pequegnat, J.F. Katzenmier, Lewis Hahn, Dan Becker, Dr. Anderson, Henry A. Ernst and Thomas Wenzel.

Eventually, a captured German field artillery piece of modest size arrived and was mounted on a concrete pad at the main intersection, where the Centennial fountain is located. Sometime after the Second World War it mysteriously disappeared one Halloween night; its ultimate fate is not known.

The Women's Patriotic Society, which provided comfort for the overseas soldiers, would join the memorial project. It was proposed that a soldiers' monument be erected with the names engraved of all New Hamburg men who fell in the battle. On September 8, 1922, the Women's Patriotic Society meeting was advised that the foundation and base were practically completed by local stone masons and would be ready for the bronze statue and tablet in short time. Treasurer Mrs. G.H. Meyers requested payment of the outstanding subscriptions. New Hamburg's first war memorial - a stone cairn almost nine feet in height - was never graced by a soldier's statue.

On May 1927, the Women's Institute invited the members of New Hamburg Council, Board of Trade, Park Board and School Board to discuss a new memorial. In mid-1927, a committee was named to lead the planning: Leon G. Pequegnat, David Eby, O.H. Becker, Lafayette Hostetler and three members to be named by the Women's Institute. The committee visited Ayr, Paris, Hamilton and Preston to view memorial monuments and obtain prices. During the following year, the stone cairn, which had been the village's link with its war dead, was demolished to make way for a new cenotaph, cast in concrete, with the names of the New Hamburg servicemen, along with several others from the immediate area, embossed on the face.

On May 24, 1929, the new memorial was unveiled by Lieutenant Governor D.W. Ross. A procession headed by the New Hamburg Band, followed by the school children, marched to the cenotaph. Mr. Hostetler was chairman and Colonel F.A. Lister, DSC, of London, Ontario, read the last roll call. The wreaths were placed by the relatives of the fallen, the Municipality, Women's Institute and Memorial Committee. The Ontario Legislature and the House of Commons were present. The Last Post was sounded by Bugler Richards of Kitchener and the school children sang "O Canada". Later, inscriptions were added for the Second World War and Korean War.

The cenotaph suffered the effects of rain and frost, repairs were no longer feasible and the replacement of the memorial was considered. Many changes had occurred in the intervening years, New Hamburg and Wilmot Township were amalgamated. The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 532 had been formed in New Hamburg and consultation between Municipal Council and Legion Members resulted in a decision to replace the cenotaph. It was also agreed that names of Wilmot Veterans who died in service would be included. Another sixteen names were to be added to those on the original memorial.

Planning for a new cenotaph was placed in the hands of a committee composed of Rev. Roy Shepherd, Councillor Dave Scherer and Legion Members Sid Cheeseman and Harold Lautenschlager. A new cenotaph of light grey granite was erected by Shuh Memorials of Kitchener, costing $28,000. In 1990, a few days before Christmas the granite blocks, pre-cut and polished, were assembled on site on the concrete base poured earlier in the fall. A time capsule was prepared, containing newspaper, photographs, money and legion memorabilia to be enclosed in the base. In May 20, 1991, the a ceremony was held blessed by bright sunshine and warm temperature. Legion members, the New Hamburg band, and a number of special guests and the general public participated in the ceremony. The service was conducted by Rev. Roy Shepherd and legion President Jack Pearson.

In January of 1918, Minto Township and the Town of Harriston addressed the need for a monument to commemorate the local men and boys who had sacrificed their lives during the First World War. Delegates from each community formed memorial committees – led by Judge Anson Spotton in Harriston and Richard Wilkin in Minto Township. By 1919, a location was chosen and in January, 1920, residents voted in favour of installing a memorial drinking fountain. 

Each municipality’s share of the funds was drawn from the year’s property tax. William J. Welch, a monument dealer in Harriston, was in charge of construction of the bronze and granite monument, assisted by J. H. Mundy, who supplied the water pipes for the fountain, and John Tilker, who laid the pavement. The cenotaph was unveiled on June 11, 1922 with, more than two thousand people in attendance.

Later, inscriptions were added to honour the Second World War. 

Even though in 1919 discussions for a war memorial continued, a committee was struck, a site (Union Square) was chosen, and ideas were put forward, the promised memorial never materialized. Frustrated by years of inaction, Doctor Norman Craig, a surgeon and a Veteran of the Great War, decided it was to do something. To raise funds for the memorial, in 1933 he wrote and staged a play based on his experiences in the war - “You’re Lucky if You’re Killed.”  The newly formed Fergus Legion and Doctor Craig helped to plan, pay for and build the Fergus Cenotaph, which he later called “a small, overdue payment on a large debt.”

The cenotaph was unveiled on August 5, 1935, attended by thousands and broadcast to many more via radio. Following Doctor Craig’s death in 1964, the memorial park was rededicated in his honour.