GREAT WAR CENTENNIAL MONUMENT

The Great War was Canada’s entrance to the world stage and with almost 10% of its population serving during the war and almost a tenth of them killed in action it was a monumental event in Canadian history. With 1918 marking the centennial of that war the beautiful little town of Montmagny on the shores of the mighty Saint Lawrence River decided to do its part to pay homage to the sacrifice made by their residents a hundred years ago. The result is a simple but striking monument in the park in front of the city hall.

Lest we forget - Ne Les Oublions Pas

The Great War was the biggest conflict ever up to that time and all the numbers involved are staggeringly large but for a small town the loses were much more personal so the monument is on a very human scale. Stark yet beautiful it contrasts darkness and light (especially at night) and the individual nature of sacrifice.

A simple plate of cut steel forms the entirety of the monument. Steel defined the war as it unleashed rifles, artillery, machine guns, trucks, tanks and trains in previously unimaginable numbers. But here steel defines the sacrifice of a single soldier, in profile, surrounded by metal.

Any monument is about time, a battle against time to retain memories. So durability is key. That is the role of zinc, protecting the monument, slowing time in a graceful way as the zinc ages beautifully. The silver-grey natural color of Hot-Dip ideally suits the nature of war memories, neither too dark nor inappropriately bright.

Just like the fighters it honors the monument has defense in depth thanks to Hot-Dip Galvanizing. The first line is a barrier of pure zinc, a second line is provided by several alloy layers, some even harder than the steel itself. Finally a strike force of galvanic protection can swoop in and restore any breaches to those first two lines of defense.

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