The Cumberland County Soldiers Memorial Monument

Constructed in memory of Captain Leon Hall Curry and his Brothers in Arms from Cumberland County, Nova Scotia

Memorial Unveiled, July 2, 1921.

At three o'clock Saturday afternoon, following the official presentation by Senator Curry, The Cumberland County Soldiers Memorial Monument was formally unveiled by Colonel C.E. Bent, C.M.G., D.S.O., and revealed for the first time to the admiring gaze the immense assemblage from the town and county which had gathered to witness the unveiling ceremony. An impressive silence settled over Victoria Square as the loose folds of the Canadian flag, which shrouded the monument, were drawn slowly asunder disclosing the life like bronze statue of a Nova Scotia highlander, representing Cumberland's contribution of men in the Great War.

Designed by the famous Italian sculptor Ghiloni, who took as his basic idea, Colonel John MacRae's immortal poem "In Flanders Fields." The monument is a marvel of artistic attractiveness.

Surmounting the base of the massive gray native granite, cut and erected by the local firm of J.A. Tingley and Sons, is a coping of heavy bronze worked into tablet form and surrounded with a significant embellishment of interwoven poppies and crosses, flanked at regular intervals with flaming torches. The bronze design extends around the whole monument, the tablets bearing the printed names and ranks of the three hundred and thirty six Cumberland men who gave their lives in the war. In the front, the metal work terminates in a large bronze plate topped by the Nova Scotia Coat of Arms, and bearing the presentation inscription:

Erected By
Senator and Mrs. Curry
In memory of their son
Captain Leon Hall Curry
And his brothers in arms
From
Cumberland County,
Who gave their lives
To their county
In the Great German War
1914 - 1918

In the rear of the monument a similar plate contains the verse from - "In Flanders Fields" on which the artist founded his design,

To You From Falling Hands, Etc.,

The statue which surmounts the whole, is a striking example of the sculptor's art. The face is said to be a remarkable likeness of the late Captain Leon Curry. The figure is attired in the full dress uniform of the 85th Highlanders, standing in the natural posture of ease, with one arm leaning on a stout cane.

The unveiling of the monument was in 1921, Amherst celebrated its centennial year in 1989, and in celebration, a time capsule was sealed in the base of the memorial, including souvenirs of the day. In 1992 the statue was struck by a vehicle. In the course of repairing the memorial, additions were made to the time capsule, and it was sealed again.

On November 11th each year a parade of veterans, militia, cadets, marching bands and service clubs end their march at the Cenotaph, and the community comes together to honor our heroes in a Remembrance Day ceremony.