Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission

[5] In October 1921, the commission selected the submission of Toronto sculptor and designer Walter Seymour Allward as the winner of the competition, and that of Frederick Chapman Clemesha as runner-up.

[6] The commission revised its initial plans and decided to build two distinctive memorials—that of Allward and Clemesha—and six smaller identical memorials.

[4] Former Canadian Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie appeared before the committee and argued in favour of the government placing the monument in Belgium on Hill 62.

[7] In the end, the commission selected Vimy Ridge as the preferred site, largely because of its elevation above the plain below.

[10] The only condition placed on the donation was that Canada use the land to erect a monument commemorating Canadian soldiers killed during the First World War and assume the responsibility for the maintenance of the memorial and the surrounding battlefield park.