Annual Beechwood cemetery walking tour

Marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War the annual Beechwood tour this Sunday includes five stops at the grave-sites of men and women who fought in the trenches in Europe, cared for the injured or guided the country through the difficult war years. The tour will include war-time Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden, nurse Minnie Gallagher and Lt Alexis Helmer, whose death inspired John McCrae’s famous poem, ‘In Flanders Fields.’ Costumed actors will bring these historical figures to life.

It's quite a way from the Borden grave site to section 29 of the cemetery where many of the 98 WW1 era soldiers buried at Beechwood are found. There's a military area on the northwest part of section 29, and some other graves scattered in that section including that of the first Ottawa WW1 fatality, Thomas W Hardingham, who died in September 1914 in a machine gun accident at the Rockcliffe range. It has two memorials.

The event starts at 2pm. Refreshments will be served after the tour. Enter by Beechwood Avenue entrance. Tour and parking are free. Wear good walking shoes.