The Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemorates 31 War Dead of the First and Second World Wars on the Cremation Memorial at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario. The 31 War Dead commemorated on the Memorial were cremated in Canada and the United States and do not have a place of burial.
The Cremation Memorial was built in 1958 and is located in a rock garden adjacent to the Field of Honour in Section 27 where War Dead and Veterans are buried. The Cremation Memorial consists of commemoration panels set on an inside wall of a granite shelter building that was designed and built by Veterans Affairs Canada engineers. The Commission installed a Cross of Sacrifice in the centre of Section 27 in 1957 and a ceremony to dedicate the Cross of Sacrifice and Cremation Memorial was held in May 1959.
As of 1971, the Cremation Memorial has also displayed plaques to commemorate 28 Dutch War Dead whose graves are maintained by the Canadian Agency of the Commission on behalf of the Netherlands.
Canada's military community has been burying its members in Beechwood Cemetery for more than 100 years and it is the resting place of over 210 War Dead and thousands of Veterans. In 2007, Section 27, along with Section 103 and the military plots in Sections 29 and 19 were developed into Canada's National Military Cemetery.
