Bourlon Wood Memorial

Historical Information

The Memorial is signposted from the centre of the village by the traditional Canadian black and white signs with a maple leaf.

 

The Bourlon Wood Memorial is a Canadian war memorial that commemorates the actions of the Canadian Corps during the final months of the First World War; a period also known as Canada's Hundred Days, part of the Hundred Days Offensive. Particularly celebrated are the Canadian Corps crossing of the Canal du Nord, their flushing the German forces from Bourlon and Bourlon Wood and the 'Pursuit to Mons' through Cambrai, Denain, Valenciennes and into Mons on 11 November 1918.

 

Situated in a park, on land donated by the Comte de Franqueville, the Mayor of Bourlon at the War's end, the Canadian Bourlon Wood Memorial site is located at the end of the 'Avenue du Monument' in the southwestern corner of the village of Bourlon. The park is a beautiful series of terraces lined with ancient lime trees that were nursed back to health after having been shattered by shellfire during the battle for Bourlon Wood. The grey granite block monument is set at the top of the hill in a glade of lawn upon a low circular flagstone terrace.