War memorial refurbished in time for Remembrance Day

Bill Beswetherick, St. Lawrence News

News -The town of Gananoque has refurbished its war memorial just in time for Remembrance Day, 2013. The memorial was funded by donations from local citizens and was dedicated in December 1920, just after the end of the First World War. It lists the names of 58 local men who lost their lives during the war. The names of 25 men who lost their lives during the Second World War were added in 1946.
The memorial underwent a major renovation in 2005 to restore the bronze statue and the bronze plaques that had deteriorated considerably during the preceding 85 years. In 2006 the name of Corporal Randy Payne, who was killed in Afghanistan in April of that year was added to the memorial.

Restorer Alexander Gabov works on one of the bronze plaques on the Gananoque war memorial as part of recent restoration efforts.

The Gananoque war memorial was one of the first such memorials to be erected after the Great War that ended with the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918. The bronze statue shows a soldier with his elbow resting on his rifle. In his left hand he holds the piece of paper that announced the end of a war which claimed the lives of over 66,000 Canadians, including 58 from the Gananoque area. Among the local war dead were three sets of brothers, a soldier age 15, and a father of 11 children.
The memorial also contains the name of Bombardier Millard Wright who was killed during the final days of the First World War. The name of his brother, Ellis, who was killed in France in 1944, is inscribed on the Second World War section of the memorial.
In 2007 a cairn was erected near the memorial. It commemorates Private John Henry (Harry) Brown of Gananoque who posthumously was awarded the Victoria Cross in
August 1917. He died of severe injuries that he had received while delivering a crucial message through a German artillery barrage.
All citizens are reminded of Poppy Day which occurs in Gananoque Nov. 2. Please wear a poppy in remembrance of the more than 110,000 Canadians who have died in wars.
Bill Beswetherick is the secretary/treasurer of the Gananoque Legion Branch 92.

War memorial refurbished in time for Remembrance Day

Story re-posted with permission from Bill Beswetherick.

Bill and Geraldine’s new book “Gananoque Remembers” is out! They offer it as a tribute to those who gave their lives in the cause of freedom.

ISBN 978-0-9736469-1-7