Remembrance Day Service 

 Each year on Remembrance Day we gather as a community to honour the men and women that made and continue to make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.

This year, please join us on November 11 at 10:40 a.m. outside the Civic Centre on the front lawn where our Cenotaph is located (19000 Leslie St) as we honour our heroes. This event is outdoors.

Support our local Royal Canadian Legion by purchasing and wearing a poppy.

The Town of East Gwillimbury (EG) holds an annual Remembrance Day Service honouring the men and women who fought for our county.

Cenotaph

The wreaths are laid each year on November 11 by the Mount Albert Legion around the cenotaph located outside of the Civic Centre. Residents are invited to visit the cenotaph on Remembrance Day to pay their respects and reflect on our Nation's veterans, and the sacrifices they made to protect our freedoms. Residents are asked to practice physical and social distancing you attend and wait until others are finished before approaching the site.

Our Town has held a Remembrance Day Service in conjunction with the Royal Canadian Legion, Mount Albert & District (Ont. No. 382) Branch, at the Cenotaph situated in front of The Town Civic Centre on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, since the unveiling of the Cenotaph in September 1990.

The Cenotaph

The Cenotaph was designed by Mr. John van Boxtel, who was liberated by Canadian Forces in Holland in 1944. The figure was cast at Asten, near Arnhem, Holland. It depicts a grieving woman and was the unanimous choice of the Cenotaph Committee.

It is intended to be a Peace Memorial rather than a War Memorial. Colonel F.A. Tilston, V.C., C.D., LLD. unveiled the Monument with numerous dignitaries in attendance from the Armed Forces, Veterans, representatives of Federal and Provincial Governments, as well as Regional Mayors and other dignitaries.

In ancient times when men went to war each man placed a stone on what was known as a cairn. When the battles were over, and men returned, they removed their stones. The ones that remained were left as a memorial to the dead. As years passed, and other wars were fought, memorials were carved in granite or bronze, and placed in prominent places where people could see them and remember the dead.

Our sculpture symbolizes all the suffering of a country at war, but it also symbolizes our hope for Peace in the future. It is placed prominently in front of the Civic Centre to remind us that because of the Supreme Sacrifice of those whose names appear on this memorial, we have a country where we have freedom of speech. This is a privilege not found in all countries.

Roll of Honour

World War I (West Face)

HON. CAPT. OSCAR D. IRWIN
PTE. SHERMAN BROCK
PTE. MELVILLE (WILL) DOANE
PTE. WALTER ENGLISH
LIEUT. F.W. GLOVER
PTE. GEORGE HODGES
PTE. ROY HOLLINGSHEAD
PTE. RADFORD SHUTER LANE
PTE. WELLINGTON M. LANE
PTE. FREDERICK TAYLOR
PTE. EDWARD MORGAN
PTE. LEONARD W. MAHON
PTE. CHESTER C. HAMMETT
PTE. WILLIAM THOROGOOD
PTE. ROBERT BUCKLES
PTE. SIDNEY G. OWENS
PTE. ANDREW KNOWLES
PTE. ERNEST COUSINS
PTE. ARTHUR A. CASE
SPR. LYALL A. STOKES
SGT. FREDERICK PEARSON

WORLD WAR II (EAST FACE)

LIEUT. CHARLES ERNEST BONNELL
PTE. CLIFFORD THEODORE BOSWORTH
CPL. WILLIAM FRED KAVANAUGH
F.O. JOHN EDWARD LUNDY
TPR. RALPH HOWARD POLLARD
TPR. GEORGE A. RILEY
W.O.II JACK V. WILLBEE
F.O. DONALD B. STEWART
GNR. CLIFFORD E. FAIRBARN
PTE. IVAN G. POLLOCK
L/CPL. DONALD F. CLARK
L/CPL. JAMES W. FOUNTAIN
F/SGT. CLIFFORD T. JOHNSON
CPL. KENNETH JOHN MASON

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE WHO ARE LEFT GROW OLD: AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN. AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING,

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Poppy