Manning Depot Memorial Plaque

 

Location: Coliseum, CNE grounds

Date photo taken: 16 August 2025

If you're visiting the CNE grounds you have to wander a little off the beaten track to find this plaque. It's located in the Coliseum building, near the offices of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. It hangs there because during World War II, much of the CNE grounds were given over to the war effort and this building in particular was used by the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Manning Depot. 

This plaque reminds us of this history, and thanks to efforts to collect oral histories and reminiscences there are some snippets online that illuminate life at Manning Depot. One man remembers being assigned to help clear out the stalls to prepare them for the new arrivals - prior to the RCAF coming in, the building was used for cattle and horse shows. Another man recalls that recruits were bunked four to a stall and that many of the city boys found the accommodations more aromatic than they were used to. 

Text of the plaque:

In honour of one hundred & thirty nine thousand seven hundred & fifty two members of The Royal Canadian Air Force who passed through Number 1 Manning Depot R.C.A.F. during the war 1939-1945.

Erected by the Officers.

75th Canadian Infantry Battalion Memorial

 

Location: 70 Birmingham Street
Date photo taken: 5 September 2021

Walking along Birmingham Street in the New Toronto area of Etobicoke, I was surprised to encounter a World War II era vehicle parked next to a winding path. When I went for a closer look, I noticed that the building behind the carrier had a plaque affixed to an exterior wall. It turns out the building is the home of the Toronto Scottish Regiment, a Primary Reserve infantry regiment, which means that it's part of the Canadian Armed Forces but members serve mostly part-time while holding regular civilian jobs. The plaque is dedicated to members of the 75th Battalion, a predecessor of the Toronto Scottish Regiment. The 75th Battalion was formed during World War I and during the course of the war, over 5,500 soldiers served in its ranks. It was awarded 16 Battle Honours and one member, Captain Bellenden Hutcheson, a Medical Officer, was awarded the Victoria Cross. The home of the Regiment now bears his name. 

Text on the plaque:

France      Belgium
1916    1917    1918

To honour the memory of one thousand and eighty two officers, N.C.O.s and men of the Seventy-Fifth Canadian Infantry Battalion B E F [British Expeditionary Force] who gave their lives in the Great War. 

The 75th Overseas Battalion is perpetuated in the Canadian Militia as The Toronto Scottish Regiment. 

Town of York Cenotaph

Location: Eglinton Avenue West, near Keele

Date photo taken: 14 October 2022

Located at the York Civic Centre, this cenotaph pays tribute to the men and women from the Town of York who gave their lives in the service of their country in the First and Second World Wars. It also, unlike many of the memorials in the city, includes the Korean War. While overshadowed in our collective consciousness by the wars proceeding it, it's important to remember that more than 26,000 Canadians served during this conflict. 

CPR Memorial Tablet

Location: Union Station

Date photo taken: 11 November 2020

During the First World War more than 11,000 employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway enlisted in the war effort. Of those, 1,116 gave their lives. This large bronze plaque is one of 23 identical memorials created by the Canadian Pacific Railway to honour their sacrifice. It was designed by Archibald Pearce of the company’s Engineering Department and features the following inscription:

This tablet commemorates those in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company who at the call of King and Country left all that was dear to them, endured hardship, faced danger and finally passed out of sight of men by the path of duty and self sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten.

The names of the fallen, wounded and missing were not memorialized in bronze, but they were recorded in the pages of Canadian Railway and Marine World. 

Weston Cenotaph

Location: Little Avenue Memorial Park, Little Avenue near Weston Road
Date photo taken: 22 May 2015

This memorial sits in a pretty little park just off the Humber River valley in the community of Weston. Unveiled in October 1950, it replaced an earlier monument which had fallen into disrepair. Elements from the initial cairn were salvaged and incorporated into the new cenotaph, including stones, the bronze sword, and the original World War 1 plaque. An alteration was subsequently made to add a third plaque, reading simply PEACEKEEPING. 

Text from the plaques:

1914 1918

In memory of those of Weston who made the supreme sacrifice

and in honour of those who served in the great war.

1939  1945

To the glory of God in honour of those who served and to the

glorious memory of those who died in the Second World War

Queen's Own Rifles Memorial

Location: In front of St. Paul's Anglican on Bloor, east of Church

Date photo taken: 6 January 2019

This Cross of Sacrifice is dedicated to the honoured dead of the Queen's Own Rifles. It is made of granite and sits atop an octagonal base on which are inscribed the various battles in which the regiment has taken part. While the initial plan was to erect this monument in Queen's Park, the decision was ultimately made to place it in the church yard of St. Paul's Anglican, which is the Rifles' regimental church. Inside the church can be found another memorial to the regiment. A glass-topped bronze casket contains a Book of Remembrance, which includes the names of all Queen's Own Riflemen who have died while on active service. Entries stretch from the Fenian Raid in 1866 to the Korean War in 1955.

Lest We Forget - Edith Cavell and Canadian Nurses

Location: Outside the University St. entrance of Toronto General Hospital
Date photo taken: 4 September 2018

Edith Cavell was a British nurse who served at a Red Cross hospital in occupied Brussels during World War I. While at the hospital, in addition to treating wounded from both sides, she also sheltered and helped arrange the escape of Allied servicemen and Belgian nationals of fighting age across the border to the neutral Netherlands. In August 1915 she was arrested and tried for treason. Found guilty, she was executed by firing squad, an act which caused outrage in Britain and many still-neutral countries such as the United States.

This memorial, which also recognizes the Canadian nurses "who gave their lives for humanity in the Great War", was erected by Societa Italo Canadese on November 11, 1922.

Note: At about the same time I chose this memorial to feature on NeaTO, I started reading Kate Quinn's The Alice Network. It was pure coincidence, but the novel features a female spy network in WWI and Cavell's death is referenced.

Simpson's Roll of Honour

Location: Main floor elevator lobby, Hudson's Bay Store, Queen and Bay

Date photo taken: 17 January 2017

The building that currently houses Hudson's Bay Company and Saks Fifth Avenue on Queen Street was built by the Robert Simpson Company. By 1890 the store employed 200 people and that number continued to grow along with the success of the business. When the Second World War began, a significant number of store employees joined the war effort. This roll of honour, located by the elevators on the main floor, pays tribute to the men who did not make it home. 

Text of the plaque:

Roll of honour

Members of the Toronto Simpson Staff who made the Supreme Sacrifice

World War 1939 - 1945

P/O D.R. Beardall, RCAF

F/O Peter E. Brinkworth, RCAF

LAC Gabriel Schoeler, RCAF

F/O Gilbert C. Hooey, D.F.C., RCAF

W/O Thos. W. Hare, RCAF

F/Sgt. Robert Doherty, RCAF

L.A.C. J.J. Lammerse, RCAF

S/Ldr. Ed. G. Gilmore, D.F.C., RCAF

F/Sgt. Roy D. Adgey, RCAF

P/O J. Elliott, RCAF

F/O K.B. Thomas, RCAF

P/O E.C. Ecclestone, RCAF

A.B. Ronald E. Grant, RCNVR

Pte. Roy Andrews, 48th Highlanders

P/O A.T. Hook, RCAF

F/O Aubrey F. Bond, RCAF

L/Cpl. C.L. Shappard, Can. Armoured Corps

Sgt. George Andrews, RCAF

S/Ldr. Wm. D. Suggitt, D.F.C., RCAF

Pte. R.G. Burke, Can. Recce. Regt.

L/Sgt. Gordon Glover, RCAF

P/O Mel L. Fullerton, RCAF

W/O W.K. Johnson, RCAF

F/Sgt. Graham F. Butson, RCAF

F/Sgt. Douglas Hann, RCAF

F/L W.E. Thomas, RCAF

F/O Wm. R. Merrall, RCAF

Sgt. Frank S. Squires, Cent. Ont. Regt.

F/O Gordon W. Besley, RCAF

Sgt. James R. Truscott, RCAF

Pte. Warren E. Eades, Royal Regt.

Pte. David J. Woods, Royal Regt.

F/O Francis O. Gilmore, RCAF

Lieut. Edward D. Glass, 48th Highlanders

Pte. R.W. Benson, Royal Regt.

P/O Wm. J. Doughty, RCAF

Gnr. Wm. Middleton, Can. Armored Corps

Pte. Charles R. Gray, Irish Regt.

F/O J.N. Kerry, RCAF

Cpl. Albert Holland, RCAMC

Pte. John Tataren, Black Watch

F/O John W. Wood, RCAF

Sglmn. Murray Smith, Chaudiere Regt.

F/Sgt. John A. Thomson, RCAF

F/L Robt. F. Galbraith, RCAF

F/L W.M. Jackson, RCAF

L/C Douglas J. Volkes, Irish Regt.

Harbord Collegiate World War I Memorial

 

Location: South side of Harbord Collegiate Institute, Harbord St.

Date photo taken: 8 February 2016

This memorial is dedicated to the students and staff of Harbord Collegiate who served and died in the First World War. Photos and audio biographies of many of those listed on the plaques can be found on the Harbord Club website. The story of Nursing Sister Carola Douglas is particularly moving.

Text of the carvings and plaques:

These former pupils died for humanity in the Great War of 1914 - 1919

We are the dead, short days ago, we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie, in Flanders Fields

C. Fred Adams

Lt. Col. W.D. Allan, D.S.O.

Capt. Lou D. Anderson

Fl. Lt. Charles T. Brimer

Lt. B.H. Acton Burrows

Robert D. Conklin

Major James P. Crawford

William T. Crummy

Fl. Lt. Frank W. Curtis

Nursing Sister Carola Douglas

Capt. Arthur J. Duncan

Fl. Lt. George S. Fleming

Charles H. Fox

Gordon G. Galloway

Norman C. Gale

Guy Garrett

Lt. James A. Garvie, M.C.

Lt. Harold Groves

Lt. D. Galer Hagarty

Fl. Com’r William T. Hall

Lt. Gordon Hamilton

Capt. J. Fuller Henderson

Raymond F. Henderson

Lt. Charles Hewson

Fl. Lt. C. Victor Hewson

Lt. Richard H. Hocken

Capt. Robert Home

Stuart Hough

Lt. John Howard

Fl. Lt. Alfred Hutty

Eric G. Jones

Nursing Sister Lily Denton Keys

Lt. Herbert N. Klotz

Lt. Lloyd B. Kyles

Major J. Miles Langstaff

Lt. Myer Tutzer Cohen, M.C.

Lt. Walter Howard Curry

Lt. Col. Thomas Craik Irving, D.S.O.

Lt. F.M. Langstone

Fl. Lt. Austin R. Lapp

Lt. John Leonard, M.C.

Capt. L.B.M. Loudon

A.W. McAllister

Harold G. McConnell

Lt. Douglas F. MacKenzie

Fl. Lt. J.L. McLintock

Paul McLaughlin

Major William H. McLaren

Wilfred Macklem

Capt. F. Ross Medland

Lt. Col. A.A. Miller

William Moffatt

Capt. W.M. Carlton Monk

Lt. Harold Mossman, M.C.

Capt. H. Gerard Muntz

Lt. J.C. Newcombe

Norman E.G. Patton

Lt. Cecil V. Perry, M.C.

Lt. William Proudfoot

Lt. H. Charles Quail

Lawrence B. Ramsay

Fl. Lt. Arnold B. Reade

Fl. Lt. Clifford E. Rider

Clifford E. Rogers

Lt. Fred. Scott

Lt. Harley Smith

Douglas Sparks

Lt. James D. Stephen

W.E. Stewart

Lt. Geoffrey Taylor

Norman Wheadon, M.M.

Harold Worthington

Lt. George B. Bickle

Major Frank Connery

Lt. Egerton B. Baines

Lt. G. Thorold

Sgt. Douglas G. Mitchell, M.M.

Lt. Charles L.M. Morrison

South African War Memorial

Location: University Avenue, just north of Queen St.
Date photo taken: 23 October 2015

This large monument in the centre of University Boulevard is a memorial to the Canadian soldiers that fought in the South African or Boer War, from 1899 - 1902. This conflict marked the first time that Canada officially sent troops to take part in a war overseas. More than 7000 volunteers heeded the call and of those, 267 died. Their names can be found in the Books of Remembrance.

The memorial itself was built by renowned Canadian sculptor Walter Allward. Born and raised in Toronto, Allward's greatest achievement was the creation of the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, which took him 14 years to complete.

Trinity Church WWI Memorial

Location: The grounds of Little Trinity Church on King St., east of Parliament
Date photo taken: 4 November 2014
Image 3 in the Remembrance Series

This elegant memorial sits in the grounds of the oldest surviving church in Toronto. It pays tribute to men from the parish who fought and died during World War I. There are no names listed on the cairn but they can be found in the Roll of Honour included in a small booklet published by the church to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1943.

Hartman Jones Memorial School Cairn

 

Location: Outside Westwood Middle School, 994 Carlaw Ave.

Date photo taken: 15 August 2004

Image 2 in the Remembrance Series

This simple cairn pays tribute to 21 former students of Hartman Jones Memorial School who gave their lives during the Second World War. The school, built in 1931, later became Westwood Junior High, and is today Westwood Middle School. 

The names of the fallen are:

James D. Allan

Donald Allen

Johnny Brooks

Earle Chase

George E. Clarke

Jules De Baeremaeker

Edward Hood

Thomas Hunter

Alex Johnson

Donald McAulay

Martin McAulay

Jack S. McIver

Jack McKinnon

Walter Mercer

John Munro

Gordon Phillips

Howard A. Smith

Jack Stevenson

John Wardman

Ernest Watson

Gordon R. Yeates

St. James Cathedral Memorial Cross

Location: West side of St. James Cathedral, 106 King St. E.
Date photo taken: 3 November 2012
Image 1 in the Remembrance Series

This interesting structure on the west side of St. James Cathedral at the corner of King and Church streets is actually a memorial to the parishioners of St. James who gave their lives during World War I. It was erected in 1924 by the firm of Sproatt & Rolph, who were well known for their Late Gothic Revival structures. Click here for a photograph from the Toronto Public Library's collection showing Remembrance Day services at this memorial in 1924. 

Text of the carvings on the base: 
“This cross commemorates the glorious sacrifice of those who gave their lives in the great war 1914-1918 and appeals to those for whom they died to lay aside hatred and strife and to seek brotherhood and peace under the banner of Christ.
 
Frank Amor, Edward Burford, Francis A. Cookson, Beverley Crowther, S. Lorne Crowther, Bertram Denison, Edgar Denison, George T. Denison, John R. Fenton, Frederick J. Gooch, M. Lockhart Gordon, W.L. Lockhart Gordon, William H. Gregory, T. Leslie Harling, Melville Hastings, Elmes Henderson
 
W.D.P. Jarvis, A. Douglas Kirkpatrick, Norman Lawless, Henry V. LeMesurier, Arthur Lewis, Alfred Lightwood, William C. MacDonald, Duncan S. MacInnes, Charles F. McHenry, John R. Meredith, Arthur Minor, Alfred Moore, C. Gordon Mortimer, Charles A. Moss, Victor Nordheimer, Victor J. Northcott
 
Albert Riddlesworth, George G. Ryerson, John D.P. Scholfield, Fred W. Seden, James B. Stephenson, Samuel T. Stocker, Edmund R. Street, Clement Tyler, William Vernon, Trumbull Warren, James S.L. Welch, Harry Westerman, Fred Williams, Harold V. Wrong, J. Herbert Porter, Arthur McDonell"