Vancouver was a small city when the First World War broke out, and the majority, if not all, of its inhabitants were affected by the losses. As it was tradition, the bodies of those who lost their lives overseas were not repatriated but were instead buried in the battle fields. Workers from the Canadian Pacific Railway fought in the war and 1100 of them perished. To commemorate their sacrifice, the CPR commissioned three bronze statues placed in three cities across Canada (Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Montreal).
The Angel of Victory (aka Winged Victory) is located beside Waterfront train station. It depicts an angel carrying the body of a fallen soldier. The statue looks like it could use a scrubbing, and unfortunately concerned citizens in the 1960s did just that. Seeing the sorry-looking state of the statue, they thought it was dirty. So, they got together and began their cleaning. What they didn't know was that the look of the statue was caused by the natural weathering of the bronze. The marks left from their well-intentioned actions can still be seen apparently.
After the Second World War, information was added to include those who lost their lives in that conflict as well.
I have passed by this statue many times over the years, but I never really stopped to look at it in close detail. It's very poignant and arouses feelings of sadness. As well it should, it's a small but important gesture to remember the sacrifice of those men and women who gave so much for the cause of freedom.
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Images by @litguru
A touching post @litguru .
I can feel the emotion in this post and in the rather touching yet unnecessary demonstration of the people who decided to clean the angel
Happy Remembrance day in arias
Thanks so much! I thought the statue was dirty too when I saw it, but when I looked it up it turned out to be the natural weathering of bronze. It's a wonderful landmark of remembrance.
That is a moving blog, @litguru. Thank you for giving us all a moment to reflect, and respect. Easy to send people to war while we stay home. The least we can do is remember them.
Thank you @agmoore! It's a great sacrifice they made and hopefully we'll never forget it or the lessons.
Are those fresh roses? do they change the roses daily or something?
We recently had our Remembrance Day events and people put real roses and also plastic poppies that we wear to show our support for veterans. The poppies are sold to the public, and the proceeds go to the veterans. So this is a once a year event.
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