Manitoba memorial lakes facts for kids
Imagine a map of Manitoba with thousands of lakes, islands, and bays. Many of these places didn't have official names! After World War II, in 1945, Canada started a special program. The idea was to name these unnamed places after brave Canadian soldiers, sailors, and air force members who lost their lives serving their country. Manitoba, with its huge number of lakes (about 100,000!), really embraced this idea. By 1995, they had named places after 4,000 Manitobans who died in the Second World War.
Since 1971, Manitoba has even had a special expert called a toponymist (say: toh-PON-uh-mist). This person's job is to manage all the names on maps. They first check if a place already has a name that local people use. If it doesn't, they then give it a special name to remember a fallen soldier. Since 1995, Manitoba has continued this tradition, naming places after those who served in World War I, the Korean War, Afghanistan, and U.N. peacekeeping missions.
First Named Places
In July 1947, Manitoba officially named 25 lakes after 26 men who died while serving in the Second World War. These were some of the very first places named as part of this important program.
Here are a few examples of these early names:
- Mackie Lake, named after FO. A. M. Mackie from Winnipeg.
- McMillan Lake, named after FO. L. McMillan.
- Vandekerckhove Lake, named after PO. G. P. C. Vandekerckchove from Stony Mountain.
- Arbour Lake, named after WO. Abram Arbour.
- Two Tod Lake, named after twin brothers Douglas Tod and WO. Ernest Tod.
- Hunter Lake, named after Pte. Jack Hunter from Neepewa.
- Finch Lake, named after SL. G. H. Finch from Birtle.
- Watt Lake, named after FO. R. H. Watt from Winnipeg.
- Reid Lake, named after Lieut. Edward James Reid from Souris.
Today, there are more than 4,200 lakes, islands, bays, and other geographical features in Manitoba named to honor those who died serving Canada. It's a way to make sure their bravery is never forgotten.
