WW1 Death Plaque - Canadians

[BPJermyn]

WW1 Death Plaques were awarded to all Commonwealth casualties - including Canadians?

I enquirer as they are rare find if you are a collector and part of me always - for some reason - believed that to be awarded a Death Plaque that the fallen Canadian soldier had to have been born in the UK,

Can anyone shed any light upon this for me??

Thanks,

BPJ

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Bradley,

Having looked at various references, Canadians who were killed serving in WW1 were entitled to a ' Death Plaque ' irrespective of their having been born in the U.K., or not.

In addition to the Death Plaque, Canadian servicemen who died also received a silver ' Memorial Cross '.

Here is a text which refers to the Canadian Death Plaque and Memorial Cross, plus some photographs.

" Canadians who made the supreme sacrifice were commemorated with a silver cross, in addition to the plaque and scroll of the Commonwealth nations. The ‘Memorial Cross’ was approved by the Government on September 24th, 1919 to recognize those, members of the Armed Forces who were killed in action, died of wounds or whose death in later years could be directly attributed to their wartime service. The Cross is awarded to the mother of the fallen member and if that person is married a cross is also issued the widow. As in the case of a male member, when a female meets the terms of award a cross is awarded to the mother; but I have not been able to ascertain whether one would be issued to the widower if the member had been married.

The terms of award for the Memorial Cross did not make provision for Canadians who lost their lives while in the service of the Mercantile Marine.

The sterling silver Memorial Cross, measures 1-¼ by 1-¼ inches with a double ring on the upper arm through which a purple silken ribbon is passed to hang the cross around the neck of the family member. The cross patonce, surmounted on a wreath of laurel has on the upper arm, beneath the mounting ring, a crown and at the extremity of each of the other arms a maple leaf all in high relief. A smaller St. George's cross is superimposed, in the centre of which is the cypher of the reigning sovereign in high relief. The reverse of the cross is plain, save for the sterling and makers marks on the lower arm, and on this tablet is engraved the details of the fallen. In the case of enlisted personnel in two lines in the centre of the cross, the service number, rank and name; and in the case of officers just the rank and name, usually in just one line. "

Regards,

LF

[Old Owl]

Hi Bradley,

Lancashire Fusilier is absolutely correct, the only thing which I have wondered about is whether or not the Memorial Plaques to Canadians, Australians, etc., were produced in the U.K. or in their own countries. Does anyone have an answer to this?

Robert

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Hi Bradley,

Lancashire Fusilier is absolutely correct, the only thing about which I have wondered about is whether or not the Memorial Plaques to Canadians, Australians, etc., were produced in the U.K. or in their own countries. Does anyone have an answer to this?

Robert

Robert,

All the Memorial Plaques for both British and Dominion troops were made in G.B. firstly at Acton and then also at Woolwich.

The Memorial Plaques for the Dominons, were sent in bulk to Canada, Australia etc., from London and were then distributed internally by those individual countries.

Regards,

LF

[BPJermyn]

Thanks for all the information folks.

I have no idea why I thought that they were not issued to the families of fallen Canadian troops.

All the best...............

[Old Owl]

Robert,

All the Memorial Plaques for both British and Dominion troops were made in G.B. firstly at Acton and then also at Woolwich.

The Memorial Plaques for the Dominons, were sent in bulk to Canada, Australia etc., from London and were then distributed internally by those individual countries.

Regards,

LF

Hi L.F.,

I did suspect that this was the case but had never actually seen it written down, even though it has probably been discussed on numerous occasions.

Regards, Robert

P.S. I will send you some more photos following on from a few weeks ago--just as soon as I have a spare few minutes!!

[303man]

And the Ironic thing is many of the plaques shipped to Australia and the Dominions were shipped back to UK as the soldiers in a lot of cases were the first generation to emigrate overseas and as the plaque was issued in Strict Next of Kin order a lot went to their parents still in the UK.

[Khaki]

Was Canada the only commonwealth country to receive the memorial cross? if so, why?

khaki

[Guest]

I recently acquired this U.S. WW 1 Memorial plaque and have been unable to find any info about it. It measures 4 1/2" across and is made of bronze. It has the name "ARTHUR MOSS" engraved on the bottom. Has anyone else ever seen one like this before?

[robins2]

Info Canada Memorial Cross here:    http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/memorial-cross