Bosnia Memorial Stones

On August 17, 1992, Sergeant C.M. Ralph was serving in Croatia with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) and was killed when his vehicle struck a mine. His unit, 4 Combat Engineer Regiment, commissioned a locally made memorial stone of dark grey granite and dedicated it to his memory. The stone was the focal point for their 1992 Remembrance Day ceremony. Subsequent Canadian soldiers killed in the former Yugoslavia were added and by 1995 the number of memorials stones had grown to four.

In mid-1995, Canada agreed to provide a contingent for the newly formed NATO Implementation Force (IFOR), which became the NATO Stabilisation Force (SFOR) on December 20, 1996. During this time the Memorial Stones were sent to the Canadian War Museum, to ensure they were not lost, and were on display in the museum’s Peacekeeping Gallery. In 1998, the museum added the names of six soldiers that had been killed since mid-1995 to the Memorial Stones.

The soldiers in SFOR requested their stones be returned so they could build a formal memorial in one of their camps. The museum made the arrangements to return the stones to Yugoslavia for the duration of their mission in the Balkans. The memorial consisted of the four returned stones, an eleventh name was added to one of the stones, and included two additional stones that were locally made. One was a Bosnian cemetery marker style and the other listed the names of the five Canadian soldiers killed while serving in IFOR/SFOR. A rededication ceremony was held on Remembrance Day 1998.

In 2005, the Memorial Stones arrived back at the Canadian War Museum where they are now stand alone items.

Inscription

[memorial marker Bosnian style/monument commémoratif de style bosniaque]

UNPROFOR
IFOR
SFOR
KFOR

[side/côté]

ERECTED BY NSE ROTO 3 NOV 1998

[first panel/premier panneau]

Dédié aux Canadiens
qui ont donnés leur
vie au service du
la paix alors qu’ils
servaient avec la
FORPRONU

[second panel/deuxième panneau]

Sgt C. M. Ralph
17 August 1992
MCpl J. W. Ternapolski
25 March 1993
Cpl D. Gunther
2R22eR 18 June 1993
Cpl K. M. H. Bechard
2PPCLI 6 August 1993
Sgt D. A. Gareau
CCSG 17 August 1993

[third panel/troisième de droite]

Capt J. P. Decoste
2PPCLI 18 September 1993
MCpl S. Langevin
12RBC 29 November 1993
Pre K. D. Cooper
3PPCLI 6 June 1994
Cpl J. F. Y. Rousseau
12RBC 25 August 1995

[fourth panel/quatrième panneau]

Dedicated to those
Canadians who gave
their lives in the
service of peace
while serving with UNPROFOR

[fifth panel/cinquième panneau]

IFOR SFOR Spr. C. Holopina 2CER 4 July 1996
Bdr. R.D. Vialette 1RCHA 21 July 1997
MCpl T.S. McCrea 2 Svc Bn 25 March 1998
Cpl J.W. Ogilvie RCD 30 August 1998
Spr G.D. Desmarais 2 CER 25 September 1998

Le sap Holopina, membre du 2e Régiment du génie de combat, a été tué dans un accident de la route le 4 juillet 1996, alors qu’il participait à l’Opération ALLIANCE. Le sap Holopina et ses camarades étaient en route pour aider à récupérer un groupe de soldats britanniques coincés dans un champ de mines quand, pour éviter un accident, leur Bison a quitté la route et déboulé dans un ravin. Le sap Holopina a perdu la vie lorsque le véhicule s’est renversé. Il a été le premier militaire canadien à perdre la vie en Bosnie sous le commandement de l’OTAN. Un monument a été érigé là-bas à sa mémoire. Ce monument de béton, situé à l’origine aux environs de Bihac, en Bosnie, est gravé d’un insigne du GMC et rappelle la mémoire du sapeur Christopher Gregory Holopina. Il a été rapatrié et se trouve maintenant au Musée canadien de la guerre. (Voir aussi les mémoriaux 35070-041, 35070-042, 46005-061, 46003-012 et 46005-062.)

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