“Canadian culture is intertwined with its expansive geography,” says Connie Wyatt Anderson, GNBC chair. “I see naming places after conflicts and war heroes as an extension of our national relationship with remembrance and our connection to physical place.”
Geographical remembrance means the land itself honours Canada’s fallen — whether it’s Alexander Shoal off British Columbia’s coast or Gravell Point, Nunavut — even when those individuals have faded from living memory. “Canadian acts of remembrance are quiet and serene,” says Wyatt Anderson. “Commemorating Canadian war dead by naming places after them follows a similar tenor. It’s solemn and underfoot, and beckons personal reflection.”
Remembrance land
1. Two impressive natural landmarks honour Maj.-Gen William Wasborough Foster: Foster Glacier, Yukon, and 2,135-metre-high Mount Colonel Foster, B.C. After fighting at Vimy Ridge and the Battle of the Somme during the First World War, Foster went on to become a great explorer. He was part of the first successful summit of Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain.
2. One might assume that Saskatchewan’s Bear Island and Bear Lake are named for one of Canada’s most iconic animals, but they actually honour Indigenous servicemen Fusilier Thomas Bear and Pte. Marcel Bear, who served in Second World War and the Korean War, respectively.
3. Eleven sites recognize the Dieppe Raid, seven the Battle of Vimy Ridge and six the Battle of the Somme — famous battles of the First and Second World Wars during which Canada sustained heavy losses. These names span lakes, creeks, cities, mountains and islands.
4. Only eight of the 488 sites specifically honour women. Parc Elspeth-Russell, for instance, honours the only Quebecer who flew with the Air Transport Auxiliary in the Second World War. Goddard Lake in Saskatchewan, meanwhile, is named for Capt. Nichola Goddard who, while serving in Afghanistan, became the first female Canadian solider killed in combat.
5. Ex Coelis, the Latin motto of the First Canadian Parachute Battalion, translates as “Out of the clouds.” Members of the battalion were among the first Allied forces on the ground during the D-Day landings. Many were taken prisoner. Alberta’s Ex Coelis Mountain has five peaks, each named in honour of the battalion.
6. The first Canadian airman to receive the Victoria Cross, William “Billy” Bishop was just 23 when he flew a daring solo mission on the German Estourmel aerodrome during the First World War. There are sites named after him in several provinces and territories, including two Bishop Lakes — one in the Northwest Territories and another in Ontario.