Military Burials
Victoria Cross winners
 |
BEET, Harry C. VC | Abray -3 -5 -12 | Victoria Cross recipient | ||
| KERR, John Chipman VC | Abray -5 -8 -12 | Victoria Cross recipient | |||
| MacBEATH, Robert VC | Masonic 193 -6 | Victoria Cross recipient | |||
| SHANKLAND, Robert | Cremation | Victoria Cross recipient | |||
Notes:
Robert McBEATH: (our records and his monument have the incorrect surname spelling of MacBeath.
John C. KERR: His cremated remains were interred in the same grave as Leslie Walter KERR [Abray, Block 5, Plot 6 Lot 9] Leslie died in 1942 at the age of 23. John died in 1963 at the age of 76. However, the marker for John C. KERR is placed on a different grave - Abray, Block 5, Plot 8, Lot 12. This lot was purchased in 1966 so that a marker could be placed for John Chipman KERR [cemetery rules at the time only permitted one marker per military grave]. In 1981, the cremated remains of Clarissa G. KERR were interred in this same grave where John C. KERR was commemorated.
Robert Shankland: His death certificate (typical with many other examples the Cemetery have encountered) references final disposition as "cremation" with "Mountain View Cemetery" identified as the cemetery. However, this only refers to him being cremated at the crematorium located within Mountain View cemetery. There is no information in their records, nor the cemetery's, indicating that his remains were ever interred here. It is most likely that his cremated remains were returned to the family and taken elsewhere - quite possibly scattered as was common at the time.
There are a number of Victoria Cross sites out there. Here are a few:
Victoriacross.org |
Veterans
Affairs Canada | The Victoria Cross Society
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
See the improvements being made to the Commonwealth War Graves by the Commission
Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
During the Second World War, Vancouver was the port of embarkation for Canadian troops serving in the Far East. It was the headquarters of Military District No.11 and also, from December 1942, of Pacific Command. Strong coastal artillery and anti-aircraft defences were installed in the area. The Second World War burials are located in a the veterans' plot or are scattered in other parts of the cemetery. Most of the airmen buried here died while serving at the Royal Canadian Air Force base on Sea Island; some of the soldiers belonged to the Veterans Guard of Canada, who protected air force stations and performed other guard duties. Among the sailors were men from the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteeer Reserve training establishment HMCS 'Discovery'. The cemetery also contains 320 First World War burials which lie in a special Soldiers' Plot.
Mountain View Veterans Project
Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 12,000 veterans the second largest "Field of Honour" in Canada. However, over 900 of those veteran graves still do not have a marker. Find out more.
Library and Archives Canada site for the Canadian Expeditionary Force of World War One
Over 600,000 Canadians enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the First World War (1914-1918). The CEF database is an index to those personnel files, which are held by the National Archives. To date, over 800,000 images of Attestation papers have been scanned and are being made available on-line. Check the site here
Crosses of Sacrifice
A list of Crosses in North America
Vancouver Memorials
There are seven public memorials dedicated to those lost in war.
Air Force Garden of Remembrance
Vancouver's Bronze
Angel
The Canadian Japanese War memorial
Granview Park Cenotaph
Memorial Park West
Memorial South Vancouver
Victory Square Cenotaph
There are some surprising burials at Mountain View. Here are two recent discoveries.
James E. Highland a veteran of the Spanish American War
headstone before | headstone after
George Gardner [Company C, 17th Illinois Cavalry] a Civil War veteran
headstone before | headstone after
