Contributed by the Henley Heritage Fund
As the years turn to decades and the surviving veterans of the Great Wars dwindle in number, the need to remember those who fought and those who died for Canada becomes an essential duty. So long as nations make war, there will always be those who serve and sacrifice.
The Henley Heritage Fund* in 2026 launched a Memorial Banners project. With Oxford only recently initiating a process to have memorial banners hung from utility poles throughout the community, the Fund’s board wanted to ensure the soldiers listed on the Oxford Cenotaph were duly recognized. With funding available for 10 banners at full cost ($200/ea), the Fund also offered support to residents for whom the cost of producing the vinyl-printed images represented a challenge, with a 50% funding subsidy.
There are few plans that survive implementation as designed. This initial effort quickly came up against a roadblock: Where to find the photographs of World War I soldiers who were killed in action? Some of those men no longer have relatives living in Oxford, or have no descendants at all. Some were the last of their line.
Scouring the Pictorial History of Oxford social media pages (A & B) turned up a few options. The archives of the Oxford Historical Society also aided in the search. In the end, most of the photos that were made available came from family members who had made the effort to preserve some memory of their servicemen.
In the end, the HHF was able to support the production of five new memorial banners that will hang along Oxford’s streets for Remembrance in 2026: Pte. Herman Black, Pte. George Rex Gordon, AB Vayle Gordon, Cpl. N. Shirley Lowther, Pte. Albin J. Sumara. We have begun the search for images of other soldiers memorialized on the Cenotaph for production in 2027.
There are many more of those who served who need to be recognized. Our focus is on the KIAs as named on the Cenotaph, but we hope to see more public uptake of the subsidy for next year’s Remembrance Day observances. Beyond those who served in the Great Wars, are those who served in other conflicts in which Canada participated, including peacekeeping activities.
Women who served were often overlooked when it came to recognizing that service. We hope to have submissions from the community to recognize women veterans from the auxiliary services and a great number of nurses in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. In the First World War, 47 Canadian nurses lost their lives. In the Second World War, the Canadian Women’s Army Corps saw women serve as drivers of transport vehicles, cooks in hospitals and messes, clerks, typists, and stenographers, telephone operators and messengers, and canteen helpers, among other unnamed tasks. While 3000 CWACs served overseas, all survived although four were wounded. Other branches of service for women in World War II included: Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service, Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, and the RCAF Women’s Division.
*Administered by Gift Funds Canada (CRA REGISTRATION #89671 3 500 RR0001)
For more information on the Henley Heritage Fund, visit HenleyHeritageFund.ca
