Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
|
|
| Coordinates | 45°25′26.53″N 75°41′43.79″W / 45.4240361°N 75.6954972°W |
|---|---|
| Location | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Designer | Public Works and Government Services Canada, Mary-Ann Liu |
| Type | War memorial |
| Material | Granite, bronze |
| Length | 3.5 metres (12 ft) |
| Width | 2.5 metres (8 ft) |
| Height | 1 metre (3 ft) |
| Opening date | May 28, 2000 |
| Dedicated to | All persons who served and did not return home |
The Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (in French: Tombe du Soldat Inconnu) is located before the National War Memorial in Confederation Square, Ottawa, Ontario. The culmination of a project begun by the Royal Canadian Legion, the tomb was added to the war memorial in 2000 and holds the remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier who died in France during World War I. The soldier was selected from a cemetery in the vicinity of Vimy Ridge, the site of a famous Canadian battle.
At the request of the Royal Canadian Legion, the Canadian government became part of the project of creating a tomb of the unknown soldier for Canada, as part of the Canada Millennium Partnership Program. The Cabinet asked the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to select one of the 1,603 graves of unknown Canadians buried in the vicinity of Vimy Ridge. Chosen was Grave 7, in Row E of Plot 8 of the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez, France, near the memorial at Vimy Ridge, the site of the first major battle where Canadian troops fought as a combined force. The remains of the soldier buried there were exhumed on the morning of May 16, 2000, and the coffin was flown in a Canadian Forces aircraft to Ottawa on May 25, accompanied by a 45-person guard of honour, a chaplain, Royal Canadian Legion veterans, and two representatives of Canadian youth. In Ottawa, the unknown soldier lay in state for three days in the Hall of Honour in the Centre Block on Parliament Hill.
...
Wikipedia