Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram March 1951. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Korean War Monument – Korean War Monument in Ottawa, Ontario.

Close up of Korean War Memorial – Close–up of the Korean War Monument in Ottawa, Ontario. This features a Canadian soldier, facing toward Busan, Korea, where an identical monument watches over the graves of 378 Canadians in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery. Accompanying the volunteer are two Korean children, both holding symbols: the girl, a bouquet of maple leaves symbolizing Canada; and the boy, a bouquet of maple leaves and roses of Sharon, the national flower of Korea.

Dedicatory Inscription on the Korean War Memorial – Dedicatory inscription on the Korean War Monument in Ottawa, Ontario.

Inscription – Corporal James Alvin Calkins is one of 23 soldiers commemorated on this panel and is one of the 516 soldiers whose names appear on the Korean War Monument in Ottawa. It was erected IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE CANADIAN WHO DIED IN SERVICE DURING THE KOREAN WAR 1950-1953 AND ON KOREAN PEACE KEEPING DUTIES, 1953-1957. Corporal Calkins died on February 23, 1951 and is buried in the United Nations Cemetery (Busan), South Korea. Privates Borden Bruce Brown (whose name also appears on this panel), Frederick Andersen, Thomas Henry Colbourne, Elliott Gordon MacKay and Kenneth Dominic O'Brien, also died that day. All served with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Essay – This account of the fighting in Korea during February 1951 appears at the Korean War Section of the Veterans Affairs Canada website. Ten soldiers, all members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were killed during this time. They were Corporal James Alvin Calkins and Privates Borden Bruce Brown, Frederick Andersen, Thomas Henry Colbourne, Elliott Gordon MacKay and Kenneth Dominic O'Brien on the 23rd, Privates Alfred Ernest Roy Hansen and Jerrold Norman John Maxwell on the 25th, Private Arlen Charles Lewis on the 26th, and Private Lloyd Ernest Peters on the 27th.

Photo of James Alvin Calkins