Chateauguay Valley Veterans
Commemoration Project
Since the formation of Canada as a nation, its citizens have been called up to defend its sovereignty, and the peace of the world as part of its national armies.
The focus area of this memorial site, jointly sponsored by the Chateauguay Valley Historical Society and Branch 81 (Huntingdon, Quebec) of the Royal Canadian Legion is to serve as a commemoration of the roughly 3,500 citizen soldiers, men and women from the southwest corner of Quebec who have served during the two World Wars and subsequent military conflicts.
The area covered by this project is bounded roughly by the St. Lawrence River from just outside of the town of Chateauguay, Quebec west to Akwesasne, and extending southward across the rural counties of Huntingdon and Beauharnois to the U.S. border (see map here). This region covers about 2,300 km² (890 sq mi) mostly on the Quebec side, and approximately 130 km² (890 sq mi) on the US side. In 1914 the population of the area was about 53,000, concentrated in two urban manufacturing centers - Valleyfield and Beauharnois - supported by a handful of agriculture-based towns such as Huntingdon, Ormstown, Sainte-Martine, Howick, and Saint-Timothée. The majority of populated areas were small villages, hamlets, and parishes like Franklin Centre, Saint-Anicet, and Dundee. From this area, approximately 1,700 individuals had some degree of service in the First World War, and roughly the same for the Second World War.
This project, will collect the names and profiles of those that served.
