McLeod

Burial Information:
Cemetery:
LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY
Belgium
Grave Reference: XXVII. B. 16.
Location: Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery is located 11.5 kilometres west of Ieper town centre, on the Boescheepseweg, a road leading from the N308 connecting Ieper to Poperinge. From Ieper town centre the Poperingseweg (N308) is reached via Elverdingsestraat, then over two small roundabouts in the J. Capronstraat. The Poperingseweg is a continuation of the J. Capronstraat and begins after a prominent railway level crossing. On reaching Poperinge, the N308 joins the left hand turning onto the R33, Poperinge ring road. The R33 ring continues to the left hand junction with the N38 Frans-Vlaanderenweg. 800 metres along the N38 lies the left hand turning onto Lenestraat. The next immediate right hand turning leads onto Boescheepseweg. The cemetery itself is located 1.5 kilometres along Boescheepseweg on the right hand side of the road. From Calais, take the motorway A16 signposted Dunkerque/Lille. At Dunkerque take the motorway signposted Lille/Ypres, the A25. Leave the motorway at Junction 13, the village of Steenvoorde. Follow the D948/N38 signposted Ieper/Poperinge. After approximately 8-10 kilometres Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery will be signposted off to the right.

The Burial information and cemetery plan resource is copyright the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Books of Remembrance:
The six Books of Remembrance lie in the Memorial Chamber in the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. Together they commemorate the lives of 114,710 Canadians who lost their lives while serving their country in battle outside Canada since Confederation.

The first one created, and the largest of the Books, is the First World War Book which contains 66,655 names. This book is followed by the Second World War Book which contains 44,893 names.

It was on July 1, 1917 that Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden dedicated a site in the Centre Block of the Houses of Parliament. He said the new structure would be a "memorial to the debt of our forefathers and to the valour of those Canadians who, in the Great War, fought for the liberties of Canada, of the Empire, and of humanity." And so it was two years later that the Prince of Wales laid the corner stone of "The Tower of Victory and Peace" as it was originally known. The intention was for all the names of the Canadian soldiers to be engraved on the walls of the chamber, but it was soon realized that there would not be enough space on the walls to contain more than 66,000 names. So began the process of brainstorming for a solution, which came from Colonel A. Fortesque Duguid, DSO, who is credited with suggesting the idea for a Book of Remembrance. The plan was accepted and minor alterations were made to the chamber to accommodate the Books. The Prince of Wales returned on August 3, 1927 to unveil the altar; a gift from the British Government upon which the Book of The First World War would rest.

The artist chosen to do the work on the Book was James Purves of London, Ontario. At that time it was expected that the work on the World War One Book would take five years and would cost $35,000. However, it was not completed until 1942, 11 years after the committee was formed. The reasons for the delay were many. For instance, Purves required many rare materials to create the Book. Also, all the tools and materials had to come from the British Empire. James Purves died in 1940, at which time only the preliminary work had been done and only one page was fully illuminated and illustrated. As a result, all of Purves' work was handed over to Alan Beddoe, an artist from Ottawa and an assistant of Purves for many years. Beddoe had the World War One Book completed two and a half years after taking over, much to his credit. Beddoe was a conscientious administrator and an accomplished artist who devoted 30 years of his life to the creation of Canada's Books of Remembrance. He died in 1975.