Allward Memorial Project

Home/Living Here/Stratford-Perth Archives/Allward Memorial Project

Walter Allward and the Stratford War Memorial

Introduction

The plaque at the Stratford Cenotaph and its accompanying website have been a project of the Friends of the Allward War Memorial in Stratford. We believe that this masterful sculpture by a great Canadian artist at the peak of his powers deserves to be better known. With a deeply felt spiritual commitment to honouring the young Canadians who gave their lives in the Great War, Allward designed four unique memorials in the 1920s: there are three in Canada, in Brantford, Peterborough, and in Stratford. The fourth is the most famous: the magnificent Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. Allward tells us himself about the dream he had which inspired this great monument:

“When things were at their blackest in France, I dreamed that I was in a great battlefield. I saw our men going by in thousands and being mowed down by the sickles of death...Suffering beyond endurance at the sight, I turned my eyes and found myself looking down an avenue of poplars. Suddenly through the avenue I saw thousands marching to the aid of our armies. They were the dead. They rose in masses, filed silently by and entered the fight to aid the living. So vivid was the impression, that when I awoke it stayed with me for months. Without the dead we were helpless. So I have tried to show this in this monument to Canada’s fallen, what we owed them and will forever owe them.”

Click here to learn more about the Canadian National Vimy Memorial

The story of the Great War and these memorials resonates with all Canadians, but the story of Stratford’s memorial is a uniquely Stratford story, and Allward’s symbolic sculpture is a jewel in Stratford’s artistic crown.

Ghosts of Vimy Ridge by William Longstaff, House of Commons Collection, CWM19890275-051 Used by permission of the Canadian War Museum

Ghosts of Vimy Ridge by William Longstaff, House of Commons Collection, CWM19890275-051 Used by permission of the Canadian War Museum

This project has been led by Lorna Harris and Nancy Stotts Jones with initial support generously given by their families. We would like to dedicate our work to our friends and family who were proud soldiers fighting for Canada in the 20th century:

Corporal William Hutt CC, OOnt, MM
Major George Harris
Lieutenant-Colonel Merrill MacDowell MC
Lieutenant-Colonel Thain MacDowell VC, DS
Lieutenant Kenneth I. Somerville

Click the links below to quickly navigate to each section: