The Dedication of the Byron Springbank Veterans Memorial

On October 3rd, after seventeen years of hard work, planning, design and construction, the Byron Springbank Veterans Memorial was unveiled and dedicated, near the Storybook Gardens entrance to Springbank Park in London, Ontario. The project was conceived and spearheaded by Lutheran pastor and long time counsellor to Korean War veterans Rev. Frank Mantz (ret.) and sculpted by local South Korean born artist Kay-Jang. It consists of 14 life sized forms sculpted out of a steel/stainless steel alloy, representing living soldiers, and a variety of steel called corten, which, although it appears to be rusted, is resistant to further corrosion.

The monument pays tribute to all Canadian soldiers who fought in military engagements throughout Canada’s history, with special stations (including QR codes for historical information) representing conflicts such as the two World Wars, the Boer war, the Korean War, Afghanistan, as well as peacekeeping missions, placed around the perimeter. Byron-Springbank Royal Canadian Legion Branch 533 will be hosting the site’s first Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11th.

London West MP Arielle Kayabaga, London mayor Josh Morgan, artist Kay Jang, retired lieutenant-general (and current President of Fanshawe College) Peter Devlin, Air Cadets, and other local politicians and dignitaries were present. Pastor Mantz delivered a particularly poignant address. The event was well attended, and the weather was perfect. Two North American Harvard aircraft from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association based in Tillsonburg gave several fly-overs, including the “missing man” formation in honour of those lost during Canada’s military activities.

Having known, worshipped with and worked with Pastor Frank for quite some time now, I would like to acknowledge his tremendous dedication and effort in seeing this project from conception though to completion. Well done, Pastor.