Waterdown Cenotaph

This memorial is dedicated to those who gave their lives in major conflicts and in all branches of the service. This memorial consists of two parts, erected by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 551. First is the stone memorial, found near the sidewalk, dedicated to those who gave their lives in major conflicts and in all branches of the service. Second and beside the front doors of the Legion, is an Ontario Historical Plaque dedicated to Leo Clarke, awarded the Victoria Cross in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. Also beside the plaque is an anti-aircraft gun, with no plaque or markings.

Inscription

[Stele/Stèle]

[Front and back/devant et en arrière]

IN MEMORY OF THOSE
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
FOR THEIR COUNTRY
ON THE SEA, THE LAND
AND IN THE AIR

WARS
1914 – 1918
1939 – 1945
1950 – 1953

LEST WE FORGET

[Plaque/Plaque]

Born near Waterdown, Ontario, Leo Clarke moved to Winnipeg in 1903. He enlisted with the 27th Battalion, C.E.F. in February 1915 and transferred to the 2nd Canadian Battalion later that year. On September 9, 1916, on the Somme battlefront, though wounded, Corporal Clarke single-handedly defended a recently-won trench. Using a revolver and two captured rifles he repulsed an attack by two enemy officers and about twenty others, thus helping to secure the Canadian position. For his courageous action he received the British Empire’s highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. Before his award was announced, however, Corporal Clarke was killed in battle on October 19, 1916, and is buried near Le Havre, France.

Ce monument se compose de deux parties, érigées par la filiale no 551 de la Légion royale canadienne. Il y a d’abord le monument en pierre, situé près du trottoir, dédié à ceux qui ont donné leur vie dans les grands conflits et dans toutes les branches du service. Ensuite, à côté des portes d’entrée de la Légion, se trouve une plaque historique de l’Ontario dédiée à Leo Clarke, qui a reçu la Croix de Victoria en 1916 pendant la bataille de la Somme. À côté de la plaque se trouve également un canon antiaérien, sans plaque ni inscription.

Le texte de l’inscription figure dans la section anglaise.