Prince Rupert was incorporated in 1910 and developed after 1914 as the terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later the Canadian National Railway). The principal attraction was a large deep-water harbour and a shorter transit to Asiatic ports. Mr. Charles M. Hays, President of the Railway, led the incorporation and early development of the town. Unfortunately, he had gone to the UK to raise investment capital but was lost on the return trip when the Titanic, on which he was travelling, sank. The town continued to develop, albeit more slowly, until the outbreak of the Second World War.

John Gabel is a Royal Canadian Navy (Ret'd) Commander living in Victoria, BC and a Member of FCWM.

Britain's Royal Navy ordered construction of HMS POWERFUL during the Second World War. At the war's conclusion, construction on the ship was halted. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) altered the design of the ship and construction commenced again in 1952 and the re-named HMCS BONAVENTURE entered service in 1957. BONAVENTURE participated in NATO fleet-at-sea patrols and the Cuban Missile Crisis and was decommissioned in 1970.

HMCS BONAVENTURE was the last aircraft carrier in service with the RCN.

Photo - Canadian Forces

The memorial was officially dedicated on 21 May 1939 by King George VI, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, Governor General the Lord Tweedsmuir, Prime Minister Mackenzie King, and an estimated 100,000 people, including some 12,000 veterans.

The site was decorated with banners depicting the heraldic elements of the Royal Arms of Canada. The impressive structure includes 22 bronze figures marching through the archway. Leading the way (in a hierarchy approved at the time) are infantrymen, a mounted cavalryman, a mounted artilleryman, followed by an aviator, a sailor, a sapper, a forester, a stretcher-bearer and nurses, among others.

"On the battlefields of Europe and throughout the Dominion, there are many memorials to Canada's honoured dead. Today, in her own capital, Canada dedicates her national memorial. [It] speaks to the world of Canada's heart... Something deeper than chivalry is portrayed. It is the spontaneous response of the nation's conscience. The very soul of the nation is here revealed."  King George VI