Saint Julien Memorial, Canadian war memorial in Langemark, Belgium
The Saint Julien Memorial is a granite war memorial beside a road near Langemark, Belgium, dedicated to Canadian soldiers who fought during the First World War. It takes the form of a tall stone soldier standing on a high base, surrounded by maintained garden grounds.
The memorial was built after the 1915 Second Battle of Ypres, during which Canadian troops were among the first soldiers to face a large-scale gas attack in warfare. The site was chosen close to the fields where those engagements took place.
Locals call the monument "Den Canadien". The soldier's pose, rifle butt down and hands resting on it, is the "arms reversed" position used at funerals and remembrance services. The surrounding garden is laid out to mark the directions of Ypres, Boezinge, Hooghe, Zonnebeke, Passendale, Poelkapelle and Langemark, places that played a part in the battle.
The memorial sits directly beside a busy road, so visitors should pay attention to traffic when entering and leaving the grounds. There is parking on site, and access is open at all hours, making it possible to visit outside the busiest times of day.
The garden beds around the monument contain soil brought from different parts of Canada and placed here deliberately. Visitors walking across the grounds are technically standing on Canadian earth without leaving Belgium.
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