From Vimy Ridge to Winnipeg's Vimy Ridge Memorial Park

 © 2024, Christian Cassidy

Did you know that the 44th Battalion monument in Vimy Ridge Memorial Park on Portage Avenue once stood on Vimy Ridge? It was removed in 1924 to make way for the current national monument and returned to Winnipeg. Two years later, it was erected in what was then called St. James Park. The monument was refurbished and the park's name changed in 1967.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge took place between April 9 - 12, 1917. Over 15,000 Canadian soldiers, including the 44th Battalion, successfully captured the five-kilometre-long ridge at a terrible cost of 3,598 soldiers killed and another 7,000 wounded.  They were the bloodiest days in Canadian history.

Here's the story of the 44th Battalion and the history of its monument.

44th At Camp Sewell, Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum & Archives via MHS

The 44th Canadian Infantry Battalion was established in Winnipeg on November 7, 1914, with headquarters in the newly opened Minto Armouries on St. Matthews Avenue. After seven months of recruitment and basic training, it was off to Camp Sewell, (later named Camp Hughes near Carberry), for five months of more intensive training.

The 1,200 or so men of the 44th Battalion left for Britain in October 1915 and were dispatched to France on August 12, 1916. It fought in some of the most famous and bloodiest in France, including The Somme, Passchendaele, Hill 70, Vimy Ridge, Arras, Canal du Nord, and Amiens.

Royal Winnipeg Rifles Regimental Museum

The 44th Battalion was still located in the Vimy Ridge area in the fall of 1917 and began erecting this monument atop "The Pimple", a strategic hill on the ridge.

The body of the monument was made from cement and other materials captured from the Germans. The names of the 328 members of the battalion who lost their lives at Vimy Ridge, the Triangle, and La Coulotte were carved into its side panels

When the 44th Battalion returned to Canada, the monument stayed behind to honour its fallen.

June 9, 1919, Winnipeg Tribune

When the war ended the battalion hung around England for months with tens of thousands of other soldiers awaiting passage back to Canada. Finally, in May 1919 they boarded the Empress of Britain in Liverpool and landed at Saint John, New Brunswick on June 2, 1919 where the troops were dismissed.

The return of the battalion to Winnipeg was anticlimactic. By the time its train reached the CPR depot on Higgins Avenue on the morning of Sunday, June 8th, it was reported that barely 50 men from the unit disembarked.

This was partly due to some finding alternate transport home from Britain - its men had been trickling back to the city throughout 1919. Another factor was that there were not many Winnipegers left in the 44th Battalion.

According to Six Thousand Canadian Men, of the original 1,200 men only 100 "originals" remained at the end of the war. Its ranks were bolstered many times throughout the war to replace those lost due to death and injury with soldiers from across the country and there were few Winnipeggers in its ranks.

Those who did disembark were driven to Minto Armouries by volunteers where they signed their discharge papers.

May 5, 1926, Winnipeg Free Press

The 44th Battalion was officially disbanded in September 1920 but the 44th Battalion Association was established soon after in Winnipeg. For decades after the war it held an annual reunion dinner and memorial ceremony in the city and cared for the legacy of the unit.

The federal government announced that it was going to build the Canadian National Vimy Monument near the site of the 44th Battalion monument in 1924 and it would have to be removed. According to Six Thousand Canadian Men, "From all corners of the earth, members (of the 444th Battalion Association) contribute the funds needed to bring this trophy home to Winnipeg."

After negotiations with the city, the monument was reassembled in the northeast corner of what was then called St. James Park and rededicated on Sunday, June 27, 1926.

The ceremony included military brass, a guard of honour, and a military band. Dignitaries included  Major General H. D. B. Ketchen, Premier John Bracken, Mayor Ralph Webb, and Sir Hugh John Macdonald. The unveiling was done by Mrs. J. Bowes of Boissevain, Manitoba who lost three sons with the battalion.

Memorial Service in St. James Park, (Source: 6,000 Canadian Men)

In January 1967, federal Veterans Affairs Minister Roger Telliet and Winnipeg Mayor Stephen Juba announced a refurbishment of the deteriorating monument to commemorate both the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Canada's centennial year.

The federal government paid to have the cement base replaced with Tyndall stone and the cement panels containing the 328 names were put on bronze plaques. The cross and its base appear to be original to the monument that stood in France.

For the city's part, it also spent $1,000 to improve the landscaping and garden area around the monument. It also announced that the park's name would be changed from St. James Park to Vimy Ridge Memorial Park.

The ceremony to rededicate the monument and rename the park took place on Thursday, June 15, 1967.

It was led by members of the 44th Battalion Association, Mayor Stephen Juba, Veterans Affairs Minister Roger Teillet, and Paul Piroson, the recently retired caretaker of the Canadian Vimy Memorial in France.

There was a bit of an ulterior motive for the renaming of the park and the new landscaping.

The Veterans Affairs department let it be known that in Canada's centennial year it was also looking for possible Canadian sites to become national war monuments or memorial sites. Such a designation would mean that the federal government would be responsible for the cost of the care and upkeep of the space.

Despite the department's hand in the refurbishment of the monument and the minister's attendance at the renaming ceremony for the park, this site did not become nationally designated and the city has maintained it ever since.

The monument and landscaping surrounding it was refurbished in 1992. In 2017, a $350,000 refurbishment of the memorial and surrounding walking plaza and gardens area took place.

The 44th Battalion monument has been joined by other monuments and memorials over the decades. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles monument was dedicated in 1992 (and rededicated in 2018), the Andrew Charles Mynarski V.C. was added in 2015, the XII Manitoba Dragoons / 18th Armoured Car Regiment in 2000, and the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in 2022.

June 17, 1915, Winnipeg Tribune

More about the 44th Battalion:
Manitoba Organization: 44th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force MB Historical Society
War Diaries of the 44th Canadian Infantry Battalion Library and Archives Canada
Six Thousand Canadian Men Library and Archives Canada