The City of Brantford is asking the public for help to gather the names of Second World War casualties missing from the Brant War Memorial.
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The city is working with the Canadian Military Heritage Museum to review and compile the missing names with the goal of installing an additional component to the memorial next year.
The names of service personnel that are missing from the Brant War Memorial, who lost their lives in military service in the Second World War and lived in Brantford, the County of Brant or Six Nations of the Grand River, can be put forward.
These people could have served in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force Medical Branch, or the Royal Canadian Naval Medical Service.
The list of names currently inscribed on the War Memorial can be viewed on the Government of Canada’s database of Military Memorials in Canada.
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“In consultation with the Great War Centenary Association, Six Nations Veterans Organization and the Canadian Military Heritage Museum, it was decided that a community consultation would be the most effective way to identify the missing names due to the complex nature of determining who qualifies as local ,” said Adrienne Briggs, the city’s arts and culture coordinator.
“For example, if an individual was born and raised in Brantford but lived elsewhere during the war, their next of kin would have had to self-report their name during the creation of the War Memorial in order for them to be included. We are hopeful that this community consultation will help us fill any waste and properly honor our fallen personal service.”
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Bob Ion, chair of the Canadian Military Heritage Museum, said Julia Jacobson, one of the museum’s archivists, is helping with the effort.
“She’s really into genealogical studies and she has done great work discovering and uncovering a lot of possible missing names,” said Ion. “She has been working with the city and it’s a great project. If people are legitimately missing, they need to be included.”
Anyone interested in putting forward a missing name can complete the online form at Brantford.ca/WarMemorial. The city will also be hosting two in-person sessions at the Canadian Military Heritage Museum, 347 Greenwich St., where the public can submit names and associated documentation on Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm and Saturday , Nov. 2 from 8:30 am to 11:30 am
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Located at 6 Dalhousie St., the Brant War Memorial was designed by Walter S. Allward and constructed in 1933 in memory of local residents who lost their lives during the First World War. The parkland on which the memorial sits was used as a parade ground for those who left Brantford during that war.
The memorial was later modified to incorporate the names of local war dead from the Second World War, Korean War and Afghanistan War. In 1952, a memorial gallery was added and served as a backdrop to the Brant War Memorial. In 1992, seven bronze statues were added to represent the men and women who were involved in the wars and to commemorate local armed forces veterans.
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