The Western Front Today - Brooding Soldier, Canadian Memorial
Situated in St. Juliaan village at
Vancouver Corner, the Brooding Soldier memorial is a 35ft-high statue of a
Canadian soldier with bowed heads and hands resting on arms reversed. The
memorial was carved from a single shaft of granite.
St. Juliaan village was taken by German forces on 24 April 1915 on the first day of the second
gas attack, and was held for a further
two years.
Late on the afternoon on
22 April 1915 the
fields to the left of the village were covered by a greenish-yellow blanket
of deadly chlorine gas.
Designed by Chapman Clemesha and unveiled on July 8 1923 the memorial is
famed for its moving simplicity.
A plaque at the foot of the memorial reads "This column marks the battlefield where 18,000 Canadians on the British left withstood the first German gas attacks (from) the 22-25 April 1915. 2,000 fell and lie buried nearby."
Film Footage of Brooding Soldier
References:
Before Endeavours Fade, Rose E.B. Coombs, After the Battle 1994
Major & Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guide - Ypres Salient, Leo Cooper 2000
The "linseed lancers" was the Anzac nickname assigned to members of the Australian Field Ambulance.
- Did you know?
