Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial
Municipality/Province: Windsor, ON
Memorial number: 35099-041
Type: Stelia, airplanes, plaque
Address: Riverfront Trail
Location: Dieppe Gardens
GPS coordinates: Lat: 42.3191512 Long: -83.043762
The Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial was designed and created by local sculptors Laura and Mark Williams in 2002, commissioned by the City of Windsor and was unveiled before a crowd of 200 on July 11, 2006. This memorial replaced the deteriorating Lancaster bomber memorial which was located in Jackson Park. The bronze Lancaster memorial plaque honouring Veterans of the Second World War that was displayed in Jackson Park for 40 years was moved to Dieppe Gardens in 2005. It lists the names of 399 members of the Windsor area who died during the Second World War while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Major aircrafts from the Second World War - Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane were all hand sculpted, then molded and poured in bronze. The planes were mounted onto stainless steel poles installed by the City. They extend outward over the top of the concrete walls, offering the illusion of planes in flight.
Behind the planes mounted into the cove and set within the gardens are the ghosted images representing the spirit of past pilots, two male and a female. The female is from the air transport auxiliary that transported newly constructed planes to Britain from Canada, one male is a Hurricane pilot and the other is a Spitfire pilot. Laura and Mark created a reverse relief to capture the essence of the past. They hand sculpted the pilots, then created the molds to be poured in cement.
Inscription found on memorial
[plaque]
WINDSOR MEMORIAL
TO OUR GLORIOUS DEAD OF THE
ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE
WHO REPRESENTED THIS AREA IN WORLD WAR II
(A list of names follows, but the wording is not clear in the photo/Une liste de noms suit, mais le texte n’est pas clair sur la photo)
"ERECTED BY THE LANCASTER MEMORIAL COMMITTEE, 1965"
[plaque]
Artists
Laura Williams
Mark Williams
Foundry
Fine Arts Sculpture
Centre
Street view
Note
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