The Halifax Memorial

When the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1914. Canada's and Newfoundland's participation was virtually unquestioned. With the onset of the Second World War in 1939 Canadian and Newfoundlands once more rushed to enlist and were a major factor in the Allied victories in both conflicts.

During the two world wars the main duty of the Royal Canadian Navy was to escort convoys in the Atlantic and guard merchant vessels against the threat of attack by German submarines. In the Second World War, it also escorted ships in the Mediterranean and to Russia and supported the Allied landings in the Sicilian, Italian and Normandy campaigns as well as in the Pacific. The Canadian Merchant Navy's duties included the transportation of troops and supplies to the Allied armies and food for the United Kingdom, extremely dangerous work which resulted in considerable losses.

This memorial, unveiled in 1967 by H.P. MacKeen, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, takes the form of a tall Cross of Sacrifice, similar in design to those erected in Commonwealth war cemeteries throughout the world. It bears the names of over 3,100 members of the Royal Canadian navy, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Canadian Merchant Navy, merchant seamen from Newfoundland and those soldiers and nursing sisters who have no grave but the sea. The memorial also bears the names of those men of the Canadian Army stationed in Canada who have no known grave and those whose graves cannot be maintained.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the maintenance of graves and memorials in some 150 countries which commemorate around 1,700,000 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars. The war dead commemorated here and elsewhere include those of several different faiths and of none.

Halifax Memorial (Sailors Memorial) HRM 2006 stands in Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia.

Dedicated on November 11, 1967, the Halifax Memorial stands in memory of the men and women of the Navy, Army and Merchant Navy who lost their lives and have no known grave.

The granite Cross of Sacrifice is over 12 metres high and is visible to all ships entering Halifax Harbour. The base of the Memorial has 23 bronze panels with the the names of 3,257 Canadian men and women who gave their lives serving Canada and were buried at sea.

Panels 1-3 commemorate 274 casualties of WWI
Panels 4-23 commemorate 2,847 casualties from WWII