This granite monument is the main memorial located at Beechwood Cemetery. Beechwood is the site of the National Military Cemetery, established through a partnership between Commonwealth War Graves Commission Canadian Agency, Veterans Affairs Canada, Department of National Defence, and Beechwood.
Established in 1873, Beechwood was designed as a 19th century rural cemetery following the prohibition of burials within town limits. The western part of Section 29 was established as a military cemetery by the Soldiers’ Aid Commission and Department of Militia and Defence in 1918, and the majority of First World War dead are buried here, including several who were moved from single lots throughout the cemetery in 1922. Section 29 continued to be used for First World War veterans and later for war dead and veterans of the Second World War. War dead from the Second World War were also buried in Section 27 after it was purchased by Veterans Affairs Canada in 1944.
Following the Second World War, Beechwood continued to be used for burial of Canadian military personnel, including veterans and war dead who served in Korea, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.
In 1957-58, a Cross of Sacrifice and shelter building with a Cremation Memorial were erected in Section 27 and a dedication ceremony was held on 10 May 1959.
When Beechwood Cemetery was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2000, Section 27 was recognized as a key feature of the cemetery’s heritage value due to its prominent and central location in the cemetery and the uniform headstones surrounding the Cross of Sacrifice.
In 2005, the road separating the Cremation Memorial from the rest of Section 27 was turned into a walkway and signs were installed at the western entrance. A foot path was created to join Sections 29, 27, and 103. Annual horticulture features are planted around the Cross, Cremation Memorial and along grave rows in all four section of the National Military Cemetery.
In 2007, Beechwood established the National Military Cemetery encompassing the military plots in Sections 19 (Last Post Fund plot) and 29 and Sections 27 and 103 (established after 1947).
In 2009, Canadian Parliament passed a bill recognizing Beechwood as the National Cemetery of Canada.
