Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 51 Linked Portals of Remembrance Story contributed by Ken Hynes, CD, MA Chief Curator of the Army Museum Halifax Citadel and Project Director of the Last Steps Memorial Arch In 2014, Project Artist, Nancy Keating, and Museum Governor, Corinne MacLellan, had a conversation in a coffee shop in Halifax about our collective need to do a better job commemorating Nova Scotia’s part in the Great War and they came up with the idea of establishing a suitable art installation in Halifax, to mark the place where Nova Scotia’s first complete infantry battalion and over 300,000 other Canadians left for service overseas. The result is, ‘The Last Steps Memorial Arch’. After the dedication of the ‘Arch’ on August 26, 2016, it was important to create a second ‘portal of remembrance’, on a battlefield, where tens of thousands of Canadian soldiers took their last steps in life or were forever changed by their wartime service. The place selected was Passchendaele. With the unbelievable support of VSI World Wide Trading, the leadership of Visit Flanders, The Passchendaele Memorial Museum, the Town of Zonnebeke and other groups in Flanders, ‘Canada Gate’ was dedicated on November 9, 2017. Built by Nova Scotia craftsman, Al Simm of Avon River Metal Works, ‘Canada Gate’ was dedicated at a ceremony on the eve of the Centennial of the Battle of Passchendaele, as part of the official Canadian Commemoration Program. Situated next to Crest Farm Canadian Memorial and 700 meters from the final objective of the Canadian Corps – Passchendaele Ridge, you can view the spire of Passchendaele Church through the twin arches of Canada Gate, leading visitors through those arches; perhaps in the very last footsteps of their ancestors, symbolically linking these two portals of remembrance together. The most critical commemorative components for both of these projects are the burned impressions of the soldiers’ footsteps. In the words of Artistic Director, Nancy Keating, “Their footsteps have always been there, we just couldn’t see them.” Both the ‘Arch’ and the ‘Gate’ are places where people can see and follow those representative footsteps, evoking the memory of their ancestors who served and a sense of pride in the role their own families played in the profound events of the Great War. Both ‘The Last Steps Memorial Arch’ and ‘Canada Gate’ have helped strengthen an emotional connection between those who visit these sites and their ancestors who left Canada for overseas service those many long years ago. continued.... Cover photo from 2016 edition
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