#100DaysofVimy – February 21, 2017

Each Tuesday, we will feature a place in Canada (or internationally!) with a Vimy Ridge connection. Today we highlight:

Valour Road, Winnipeg MB

Similar to the Memorial Avenues honouring the fallen across the country, Valour Road in Winnipeg was dedicated to three sons of the city, but with a particular twist. In 1925, Winnipeg’s Pine Street was renamed Valour Road, in honour of its three former occupants, all of whom received the Victoria Cross in the First World War.  Sergeant-Major Frederick William Hall (1915), Corporal Leo Clarke (1916) and Lieutenant Robert Shankland (1917) were awarded the Victoria Cross at different points of the war, but all called Pine Street home when they first enlisted. Sadly, Shankland was the only one of the three to survive the war, seeing action at Vimy Ridge and serving again in the Second World War. In recent years, the story of the three men from Valour Road was featured in a Historica Canada Heritage Minute. Their medals are held by the Canadian War Museum.