Fonds 1971-016 - Citizens' War Memorial Committee fonds

The Citizen’s War Memorial, located in Confederation Park (directly opposite City Hall), was designed by noted Canadian sculptor Walter Seymour Allward (1876-1955). This stunning and dramatic Memorial was officially unveiled by Canadian General Sir Arthur Currie on June 30, 1929 as part of Peterborough's "Old Home Week" celebrations. Financing for the $32,000 project was secured almost entirely by public contributions. Walter Allward was selected to design the Citizen’s War Memorial in 1920. The work progressed slowly however, because Allward had also been commissioned to design the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge in France. In 1925 he suggested that the Peterborough project be delayed so that he could devote all of his energies to the enormous Vimy Ridge Memorial. In a letter dated December 27, 1925 Allward pleaded for a delay on the Peterborough project by appealing to the Committee's sense of national pride: "...be patriotic enough to see the importance of the National Memorial [Vimy] being carried out first." Allward went on to declare that: "...the Vimy is to take precedence over every thing else". But the Committee insisted that he complete the Citizen's War Memorial as quickly as possible. In 1926, Allward reluctantly called upon English sculptor, Gilbert Bayes, (1872-1953) to assist him with the execution of the Peterborough design. The Memorial is dominated by two "artistic and beautiful bronze figures of heroic dimensions" (cast in Allward’s London, England studio). The figure recoiling in anger and despair, symbolizes the ‘defeated enemy’. The standing figure with sword at his side, is the ‘Knight of Chivalry’. He symbolizes the Canadian soldier. His out-stretched arm warns the enemy that aggression must end. Walter Allward held fast to his sense of artistic vision. For example, he was utterly opposed to any suggestion from the local Committee that metal plaques be affixed to the Memorial. In October 1928 Allward stated that plaques: "...would be entirely out of keeping with the design as a whole...this matter...is one of tremendous importance to the design as conceived....". Allward also outlined very specific landscaping details for the grounds surrounding the Memorial, stipulating that a large, semi-circular row of evergreen trees be planted behind the Memorial to form what he described as a "suitable background". Originally the Citizen's War Memorial was intended to commemorate the men and women "who fought and died defending humanity against aggression" in the First World War (1914-1918). It now also commemorates those who lost their lives in the Second World War (1939-1945) and in the Korean Conflict (1950-1953). Several hundred names were engraved into the large granite foundation. By the late 1970s many of the names had become illegible and Allward's bronze figures had started to corrode. So in 1979 the "Operation Cenotaph Committee" was formed to spearhead the repair of this nationally significant monument. A series of bronze plaques listing the names of the war dead were cast and affixed to the granite face, covering the engraved names. The Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives (PCMA) hold the original records, photographs and plans documenting the construction of the Memorial. In November 1983 Confederation Park and the Citizen's War Memorial received heritage designations under the Ontario Heritage Act.