Finale

 Canadians Arriving On The Rhine was painted by Inglis Sheldon-Williams from 1918-19.

Another work by him is this one. The Return To Mons dates to 1920.

It was at Mons that Canadian soldiers ended the First World War. They gave two field guns to the town, saying they were the last to fire on the enemy. With the centennial of the end of that war, Mons gave one of the guns back to the people of Canada. It is entirely fitting that its final resting place is right here, where a visit to the Museum's permanent collection both begins and ends. 

Outside, this screen usually has projected images from Canadian military history on it. However, in the runup to Remembrance Day, something else was being projected. The World Remembers was the concept of two Canadians during the centennial years, 2014-18. The names of all Canadians who died in the First World War were projected onto the War Memorial at night in the nights leading up to Remembrance Day. Afterwards, the same concept was projected onto the Government Conference Center, but with all of the names of those who died fighting in that war- country by country, including the other side. I found the concept entirely fitting.

One last space to visit. I always leave it for last. The Memorial Chamber is down this way.

It has one exhibit inside- the gravestone that once stood at the grave of an unknown Canadian soldier who fell at Vimy Ridge in France. His remains were re-interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the War Memorial, and the gravestone was brought here, where it is mounted on a wall that has the feeling of gravestones. Visitors on Remembrance Day leave their poppies on the stone.

I mentioned some days ago about how the Museum has two focal points in architecture. This is the second of them. The entire museum was designed with this room's placement and the overhead window in mind. On November 11th, at 11 in the morning, if it's a sunny day, the sun will shine through that window and onto the stone itself.

I departed the Museum to a glorious sky and a setting sun. We'll see another take from this for my last post of the year. The plan is to come back before Christmas- I want to see the temporary exhibit one more time, and take another stroll through the Lebreton Gallery. Tomorrow we move onto other things.