Canada Day!

Today, July 1st, is Canada Day. A good day to post the striking sculpture by Walter Allward created in remembrance of those who fought, many dying, in the First World War.

Allward is also the sculpture who did the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in Vimy, France. He completed the Stratford Cenotaph in 1922 before heading to Vimy to complete his most famous commission.

Stratford is but one of only two small Ontario towns with an Allward-designed war memorial. Often, such memorials feature a famous general. Today, it's clear depicting an historical figure can be fraught with cultural traps.

Allward sidestepped the danger of depicting a person no longer worthy of the honour. The figures on the Stratford cenotaph are symbolic, representing the forces of darkness and the forces of good.

There's a plaque to a long dead Canadian at the site but it's not there in memory of a soldier. The plaque honours Allward by providing details surrounding his life. The late sculptor has become a revered Canadian artist with a large and lasting body of respected work still to be found about the province.