In Search of the Lost Vimy Models

1:100 Scale model of the Vimy Memorial.

In my recent post about the Vimy Memorial, I mentioned that 17 of the 20 plaster models of the Vimy Memorial figures were on display at the Canadian War Museum. As a regular visitor, I didn’t remember seeing them, and was sure they were tucked away in some hidden corner. So, Wine Bob and I went on a mission to discover the missing models and highlight to the museum the need to put the models on prominent display.

To my surprise, they are at the base of the stairs leading from the permanent exhibits, and just around the corner from the vehicle display, so the lost models were quickly found. I have walked down those stairs several times, my only excuse was it was prior to my travels in Europe, and I was much more focused on things that blow up rather than symbolic structures.

The plaster models are approximately life size, and the statues on the memorial are double life size. The plaster models were cast from the original clay models, as plaster is much more durable. The locations of the statues on the memorial are shown in the next 3 photos.

The centre pathway from the parking lots and visitors’ centre actually leads to the back of the monument where you are greeted by the Female and Male Mourners at ground level and Knowledge and Truth on the pillars.

At the front of the monument at either set of stairs are the Defenders Statues. The Breaking of the Sword is on the left, and the Sympathy of Canadians for the Helpless on the Right. At the centre is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Overlooking the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is Canada Bereft. Between the pillars are Sacrifice and Spirit of Sacrifice Holding the Torch. On the left pillar in ascending order are Hope, Faith and Justice. On the right pillar in ascending order are Charity, Honour, and Peace.

The models of Canada Bereft, Female Mourner and Male Mourner are not in the War Museum, they are in the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) Museum in Kingston, because the models were stored in Kingston for many decades, as they were not originally planned to be put on display.

Canada Bereft looks down at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, holding a bunch of laurel leaves upside down, a symbol of the bitter cost of victory. Like the many post-war daughters, mothers, sisters, and widows, however, she has been left to mourn alone. This statue is carved from a single block of stone.

The exhausted female mourner reads the Roll of Honour underlining the idea that the cost of victory is hard to bear.

The male mourner holds his head in grief. Some of the names of the missing are visible beside each statue.

The Defenders: Breaking of the Sword symbolizes ending the sword’s association with death.

The Defenders plaster model.

The Defenders: Sympathy of the Canadians for the Helpless symbolizes the strong protecting the weak.

Plaster Defenders.

Sacrifice and the Spirt of Sacrifice are together between the pillars. The Spirit of Sacrifice is taken from John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Field “To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high,” the line reads, reinforcing the message that a soldier’s death was not to be in vain. Sacrifice is on the altar standing on a fallen sword signifying that death is averted.

The Spirit of Sacrifice and Sacrifice were sculpted separately, then combined on the memorial.

Sacrifice and the altar were created separately.

The eight figures at the top of the pylons represent the universal virtues of charity, faith, honour, hope, justice, knowledge, peace, and truth. Truth and Knowledge are provided with the wings of angels, an attribute usually granted the figure of Victory, who is notably absent from the monument. This helps emphasize this is a peace memorial, not a war memorial.

On the rear of the memorial, Knowledge and Truth are winged angels, signifying they are messengers of god.

The models of the carvings of the virtues are very informative as the detail can be seen much more clearly than on the actual monument, as all of the virtue figures are high up and difficult to see. This is Knowledge, with the book of Knowledge closed and head bowed, emblematic of the heavy weight of wartime knowledge he cannot bear to think about.

This is the model of Truth. Usually, Truth has a laurel crown signifying Victory, but this statue has a simple laurel branch implying the possibility of Victory.

On the left pillar are the figures of Hope, Faith, and Justice in ascending order. Most of the virtues are female, but Justice is portrayed as a male.

The model of Hope, haloed, looks longingly upwards, her open left palm also pointing skyward denoting faith and hope.

The Model of Faith wears a halo, signifying her direct link with God. Faith symbolises the victory of faith and as such was viewed as particularly applicable to notions of sacrifice.

The Model of Justice holds a sword, but his head is bowed in sorrow, and the hilt hides his eyes.

On the Right pillar in ascending order are Charity, Honour, and Peace.

In this figure, Charity is collecting poppies, a symbol of the war dead, again referencing McCrae’s poem.

A haloed Honour holds a scroll and looks upward. The inference is that she is sharing with God a list of those people who should be remembered for their brave actions.

Peace holds a laurel branch aloft indicating that peace is the true victory.

The backs of the model that would be against other structure were not completed and provide additional insights into their construction.

All of the statues were carved on site, using a pantograph to double the size of the sculptures. One arm traces the plaster model, and the second arm indicates the scaled position. Master carvers carved the fine detail of the statues.

Small studios were built over each statue. The large house-like structure on the top of the monument allowed for the carving of all of the upper virtue statues. The studios for Canada Bereft, Sacrifice, the Defenders and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are all visible as well.

There are a few websites that provide additional information for those who are interested. The Veterans’ Affairs website has details on the design competition, the sculptor, the models and the construction of the memorial. The Active History Website has an excellent article on the Art, Religion and Iconography of the Memorial.

The architect, Walter Allward, born in 1874, Allward began life modestly in Toronto. He left school at 14 and learned about sculpture by looking through books and magazines at the local library and by studying replicas at a nearby museum. By 20, Allward had won his first commission and never looked back.  The Art Institute of Canada published a free book and video describing his life and work.

He embarked on the making of the Vimy Memorial — the most ambitious and demanding project of his career — after winning a national competition organized by the Canadian Battlefields Memorial Commission in 1920. Chosen from a total of 160 entries, Allward's proposal featured sculpted allegorical figures adorning two pylons and a horizontal base signifying an "impregnable wall of defence." It was unanimously chosen by the jury of the competition for its "individuality and complexity."

For the next 15 years, Allward worked on the commission. Honouring Canadians killed in France during the First World War with no known graves, he felt his responsibility to the dead keenly, creating over 150 drawings as he worked on his final design. Departing from the tradition of monuments glorifying military victories, he envisioned the Vimy Memorial as "a sermon in stone against the futility of war," with figures conveying themes of sacrifice and redemption. 

The Vimy memorial is the most spectacular monument of the First World War, and arguably the finest monument ever produced. The monument is awe inspiring to look at, and when the details of construction and symbolism are considered, it is that much more impressive.