In memory of
Private
ROY
TELFORD
who died on October
13,
1916
Military Service:
Service Number: 177764
Age: 32
Force: Army
Unit: Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment)
Division: 87th Bn.
Additional Information:
Date of Birth: January 15, 1884
Pte Telford was the sixth and youngest son of Walter and Armanella (née Smith) Telford, of Merrickville, Ontario. He was born on banks of the Rideau River, in the Township of Montague. He enlisted in the Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment) and served with the 87th Battalion. At the time of his enlistment in Montreal, Quebec, Roy was living in the Rock Island; Stanstead; Quebec/Derby Line, Vermont area. These three villages make up a community that straddles the Canada/United States border. He worked with his brother, Sidney, who by this time was the proprietor of the Telford Family Garment Factory, which produced men`s overalls and shoes. He was an active member of the Masonic Lodge. The telegram telling of his death is said to have met his brother Gordon at the Merrickville Post Office when he was on his way to mail a Christmas package. A sone marker is erected in the Merrickville Union Cemetery in the Telford family plot.
Location:Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:
TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA
Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France.
A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII.
The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made.
On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
