Featuring over a hundred buildings and spanning hundreds of acres, details may by easy to miss on the Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses — including the several war memorials on display.

The U of M features several permanent war memorials on campus, many of which have been erected for over a century. Together, these memorials display the names of hundreds of students, graduates and staff that risked or lost their lives in combat — spanning from early conflicts such as the North-West Rebellion (1885) to the more recent Korean War (1950-53).

Avenue of Elms Memorial

Located at the east entrance of UMSU University Centre and the west end of Chancellor Matheson Road are memorial plaques that span the Avenue of Elms.

On May 14, 1922, two hundred saplings were planted along Chancellor Matheson Road that extended from the Manitoba Agricultural College (now the Administration Building) to Pembina Highway. The Avenue of Elms was originally dedicated as a living memorial to the men of the Manitoba Agricultural College that gave their lives for freedom during the First World War. Planting of the saplings was made possible by graduates, staff and students of the Manitoba Agricultural College, as well as staff from the provincial agricultural department. During the war years, the first of the memorial trees were planted by students in home economics.

In 1998, the memorial was extended with another plaque to include former agriculture diploma and degree students, in addition to academic and support staff of the faculty of agricultural and home economics who were killed during the Second World War and the Korean War.

Situated in front of one of the elms at ground-level is a plaque in memorial of Wilfrid John Rae, B.S.A., M.Sc. (1899-1979), who is said to have thought of the Avenue of Elms idea. The plaque reads in-part, “whose cremated remains are buried under the elm tree he planted in 1923 opposite the south west corner of the Administration Building site.”

Manitoba Agricultural College War Memorial

Located on the boulevard of Chancellor Matheson Road and facing University Crescent, a memorial commemorates the 52 students and staff members of the Manitoba Agricultural College that were killed while serving in the First World War.

The monument, made of granite from British Columbia, was first unveiled on Nov. 11, 1923 by Brig.-Gen. Hugh Dyer at the start of the Avenue of Elms near the Manitoba Agricultural College. An article from the Manitoba Free Press estimates that approximately 600 people gathered for the occasion on the lawn of the college. The monument had since been relocated due the construction of UMSU University Centre.

The service included singing of Rudyard Kipling’s “Recessional,” reading of scripture and playing of “Dead March” from Saul. One minute of silence was observed followed by “Reveille.” The hymns “For all the Saints” and “Benedicton” were performed. Among those that attended the service and unveiling was Premier John Bracken and president of the college, faculty members and relatives of the men who were honoured by the memorial.

Engraved on the monument are the words, “in faith and gratitude, this avenue of elms is dedicated as a living memorial to the men from M.A.C. who laid down their lives in the cause of freedom, 1914-1918. Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail — nothing but well and fair, and what may quiet us in a death so noble.”

Manitoba Agricultural College Roll of Honour

Painted on the walls near the west entrance of the Administration Building — formerly the Manitoba Agricultural College — are the names of 310 members of the college that served overseas during the First World War. These names are painted on two walls directly across from one another and also denote the 52 college members that were killed in action or died of wounds during the war.

Engineering Students Memorial Tablets

Two memorial tablets are mounted on the south wall of the engineering atrium to commemorate those that were killed in the First World War. One memorial tablet was erected by the engineering society of the university to honour 17 undergraduate students that lost their lives, while the neighbouring plaque by the university’s engineers alumni association commemorates three graduates that fell during the war. The idea of a memorial tablet for the engineering graduates was proposed in 1922 by President A. J. Taunton of the Engineering Alumni Association, as reported in the Manitoban.

The tablets were unveiled on April 4, 1924 by Maj.-Gen. Huntly Douglas Brodie Ketchen and were originally placed outside the entrance to Lecture Theatre “A,” according to the Winnipeg Evening Tribune.

11th Canadian Field Ambulance War Memorial

A Tyndall-stone pillar stands on a raised plaza between UMSU University Centre and the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing. It reads, “in memory of our comrades of the XIth Can. Field Ambulance (Western Universities) who gave their lives in the War 1914-1918.”

Originally, the pillar was located directly across from the Manitoba Agricultural College War Memorial near the Avenue of Elms and featured a bronze sun dial at the top — now marked with a commemorative plaque. It was later moved when a new wing of the Engineering Building was built in 1950.

The XI Canadian Field Ambulance was a field ambulance unit that consisted of men from the Manitoba Agricultural College and others from universities in western Canada. The unit tended to casualties at various battles, including the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Battle of the Somme. Three sides of the pillar feature the 30 faded names of the fallen led by Lt. Col. H. H. Moshier, while the western face bears the Red Cross emblem.

The memorial was unveiled on Oct. 16, 1927, by Maj.-Gen. Huntley Douglas Brodie Ketchen who was accompanied by Col. George Randolph Pearkes, Col. Snell and around a hundred members of the unit, as reported in the Winnipeg Evening Tribune. Dr. H. D. Kitchen, president of the 11th Field Ambulance Association, provided opening remarks, followed by the hymn “O God Our Help in Ages Past” and a dedicated prayer by former members of the unit.

Manitoba Medical College Memorial Tablet

Located just outside the entrance of the Manitoban Medical College (770 Bannatyne Avenue) is a memorial tablet engraved in stone. The tablet reads, “in enduring remembrance of the graduate and students of this school who laid down their lives in wars of the empire. Their names are here inscribed by the Manitoba Medical Alumni Association.”

The tablet features the names of Alexander M. Fergusson who was killed during the North-West Rebellion (1885) and Andrew Blyth Byng, who lost his life during the South African War / Boer War (1900).

On April 30, 1922, a tablet for those that lost their lives during the First World War was unveiled by Maj.-Gen. Huntley Douglas Brodie Ketchen, with a summary of the unveiling reported by the Winnipeg Evening Tribune. The tablet features seven names: St. Clair Dunn, James Blain Haverson, George William Hepworth, Ethelbert Eldrige Meek, Daniel Fleming Pack, Harry Adolph Sharman and Thomas Hazel Whitmore.

A portion of the poem “In Flanders Field” is inscribed below the names: “To you from falling hands we throw the torch; Be yours to hold it high.”

Milan Lukes is the Editor-in-Chief of the Manitoban for the 2024-25 publishing year. His relative is honoured on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Belgium. If you are aware of a permanent war memorial on campus not featured in this article, email editor@themanitoban.com.