Brookside Cemetery - First World War Soldier

 © 2009, Christian Cassidy. Updated 2024, 2026.

Place: First World War Soldier (Bank of Montreal Memorial)
Location: Brookside Cemetery
Unveiled: December 5, 1923
Artist: James Earle Fraser

The nine-foot-tall bronze monument that peered down on Portage and Main for a century is known simply as "First World War Soldier" or the Bank of Montreal Memorial.

It was commissioned by the bank to commemorate their employees who were killed in action during the First World War. Nationally, 1,409 employees served and 230 died. In Winnipeg, 53 served and nine died.

Below: With "Soldier" ca. 1925 (Rob Mcinnes Postcard Collection) 

The bank held an international competition for the creation of two memorials - one for its national headquarters in Montreal, and one for its Western headquarters in Winnipeg. The result was James Earl Fraser's "Victory" and First World War Soldier.

Some sources say that Victory was intended to go to Winnipeg, but was instead sent to Montreal as its white marble would contrast well with the building's dark columns.

The spot chosen for the Winnipeg memorial was out front of the bank's imposing Western headquarters at Portage and Main. To prepare the space, the building's stairs and sidewalk out front had to be rebuilt, and the city's temporary cenotaph was removed.

Erected in 1920 by the Women's Canadian Club, the temporary cenotaph was modeled after the one unveiled in London earlier in the year. The bank agreed to provide the space and raise and lower the flag each day, while the WCC looked after the flowers and its overall care. 

The cenotaph was only meant to last a couple of years until the city erected a permanent one.  That project got mired in controversy and delays, so World War One Soldier ended up as the city's main memorial for Armistice Day 1922. (The following year, the Soldiers' Relatives / Next of Kin Memorial was unveiled on the Legislative grounds and took over central memorial duties until the city's permanent cenotaph was finally unveiled in 1928).

The artist behind both First World War Soldier and Victory was American sculptor James Earle Fraser. 

Fraser created some very celebrated U.S. statues, including The End of the Trail for the San Francisco Exposition of 1915, the figures at the north and south base of the U.S. Supreme Court building, General George S. Patton at West Point, and the Benjamin Franklin for his National Memorial in Philadelphia.

In a 2001 biography of Fraser, Soldier is described this way: “Here is no giant warrior god on a high pedestal, but a man. He is tough, ready for the fight, his feet apart, arms held loosely by his sides ready. His helmet is just slightly at an angle, and, under its brim, his face reflects strength and determination."

(Source)

The model for the statue was Captain Wynn Bagnall, a Bank of Montréal employee likely from the bank's main branch in Montreal.

Bagnall was born February 10, 1890, in Northumberland, England, and enlisted as a gunner in the 6th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery at Valcartier, Quebec, on September 22, 1914.

According to a 1921 Bank of Montreal biography, Bagnall went to France in 1915, then, "In January, 1916, he was given his  commission as Lieutenant in the 23rd  Battery, C.F.A., and was later attached to the 5th Battery. During 1917 he acted as Orderly Officer and  Adjutant in the 2nd Brigade, C.F.A.  In March 1918, he was promoted to Captain and transferred to the 58th  Battery, C.F.A. In October 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous bravery in action."

Bagnall survived the war, but 25 others from his branch did not

For a brief time after the war, he returned to work for the bank. It appears he made a return visit to England, then immigrated to the U.S. in 1922. He died on March 12, 1931, and is buried in Cypress Hills National Cemetery in New York.

December 5, 1923, Winnipeg Tribune

First World War Soldier was unveiled at 4 p.m. on December 5, 1923. 

It was a simple, intimate ceremony as the bank's management, including branch manager A. F. D. MacGachen, wanted it to be for the bank's staff and the families of the fallen employees, rather than the city as a whole. He said of the memorial: "...it typifies the heroic spirit which actuated all the soldiers of Western Canada - not merely those whose civilian service was with the Bank of Montréal". (December 5, 1923, Winnipeg Free Press.)

On one side of its marble pedestal are the words: "To Our Men Who Fell in The Great War 1914 - 1919",  and on the other, "Patria", or country.

Obviously meant to depict a Canadian soldier, some pointed out after the unveiling that its uniform and kit are more like that of an American First World War soldier.

April 6, 1977, Winnipeg Free Press

First World War Soldier missed only a couple of years of duty during its time at Portage and Main. It was removed for safekeeping in April 1977 while the Portage and Main underground concourse was constructed. 

The time capsule in the marble base was opened in 1977 to reveal newspapers, coins, and bank memorabilia from 1923. New material was added to the old when the box was resealed.

2024 UPDATE:

The Bank of Montreal sold its iconic banking hall to the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) in 2020. 

In October 2024, it was announced that the memorial would be removed from Portage and Main due to the work required to reopen the intersection to pedestrians.

First World War Soldier will not return to the intersection when the work is done, as the MMF and city agreed to relocate it to the Brookside Cemetery Field of Honour. Brookside is one of Canada's oldest and largest military cemeteries and was declared a national historic site in 2023.

2026 UPDATE:
First World War Soldier was rededicated at Brookside Cemetery on Vimy Ridge Day, April 9, 2026. (Also see.)

Related
The Sculpture of James Earle Fraser (pdf)
Bank of Montreal Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Historic Winnipeg Branch
Memorial of the Great War, 1914-1918 : a record of service Bank of Montreal (1921)
MMF and other partners work to relocate statue MMF (2024)
MMF and Partners rededicate World War I Memorial Statue MMF (2026)