In 1920, the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission began creating eight Canadian battlefield memorials in France and Belgium. One of these is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial which is a memorial site located in Pas- de- Calais, France for Canadian soldiers killed or presumed dead during WW1 and Canadian Expeditionary force members who lost their lives during WW1. The project took the designer Walter Seymour Allward eleven years to build and who claimed his inspiration for the memorial was a dream. The memorial was unveiled on the 26 July 1936 by King Edward VIII.
The memorial serves as an eternal symbol of peace and respect for the Canadian soldiers and contains the figures of Peace, Justice, Truth, Knowledge, Gallantry and Sympathy.
The two pylons are a symbol of Canada and France who are united to fight for peace and freedom for the Allied nations.
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