Community Application Name:
The Municipality of the Town of Cobourg
Location :
700 D’Arcy Street
Community Website :
Unveiling Date:
November 8, 2019
National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials # :
Community Description:
The Town of Cobourg is a community of almost 20,000 people located on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is a major tourist destination between Toronto and Kingston. Cobourg is renowned for its rich history and heritage, the architectural splendor of historic Victoria Hall, a pedestrian-friendly downtown and world-renowned lakefront. Cobourg is the birthplace of James Cockburn, a father of Confederation and Canada’s first Speaker of the House of Commons, and Marie Dressler, Canada’s first Academy Award Hollywood actress.
The Town’s military history reveals that significant contingents of soldiers participated during the War of 1812, WW I and WW II and later it played a role in Canada’s post war defense plan by opening the No. 26 Central Ordnance Depot, in 1953. At capacity, the Depot employed over 700 military and civilian workers and stored over 30,000 items, such as, weapons, munitions and combat vehicles for development and testing. The Depot was later named Cobourg Forces Station in 1966 and is now the location of the new Afghanistan LAV III Monument. The Town also dedicated the Ontario Street overpass to Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, who became the first female soldier killed, in 2006, during combat in Afghanistan.
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