London - Holy Roller

 

Location:   City of London    N 42° 59.426 W 081° 14.957
In Victoria Park, south side of Central Avenue.
 

This memorial is a Sherman Tank, dedicated to the honour of the First Hussars.  This is the only tank of the 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) to complete the campaign in North-West Europe.  This tank landed on Juno Beach on D-day, then worked its way through the liberation of France, Belgium and Holland.
The First Hussars have a storied history of providing outstanding soldiers to Canada in time of war.  They were first formed as a Reserve Force Regiment in 1856 and continue to this day to proudly serve the City of London and the country as a reserve unit.
 

BATTLE HONOURS

South African War

SOUTH AFRICA, 1900.

The First World War

SOMME, 1916; Flers-Courcelette; Ancre Heights; ARRAS, 1917, '18; Vimy, 1917; AMIENS; Scarpe, 1918; Drocourt-Quéant; HINDENBURG LINE; Canal du Nord; Cambrai, 1918; PURSUIT TO MONS; FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1915-18.

The Second World War

NORMANDY LANDING; Putot-en-Bessin; Le Mesnil-Patry; CAEN; The Orne; BOURGUÉBUS RIDGE; Faubourg de Vaucelles; Verrières Ridge-Tilly-la-Campagne; FALAISE; Falaise Road; Quesnay Wood; The Laison; Chambois; Calais, 1944; The Lower Maas; THE RHINELAND; The Hochwald; Apeldoorn; Bad Zwischenahn; NORTH-WEST EUROPE, 1944-1945.
 

Four plaques are mounted on the Holy Roller to commemorate various milestones in First Hussar history.



 
Marker text:
Front plaque top:

HOLY ROLLER
PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF LONDON
BY 1st HUSSARS      4th JUNE 1950
IN MEMORY OF THE FIRST HUSSARS WHO FELL
IN TWO WORLD WARS
THE ONLY TANK OF THE 6th CANADIAN ARMOURED
REGIMENT (1st HUSSARS) TO COMPLETE CAMPAIGN
IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE
D-DAY 6th JUNE 1944
VE-DAY 8th MAY 1945

Front plaque bottom:

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE
HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE FIRST HUSSARS REGIMENT
OF LONDON, CANADA
1856 - 1956
 





Side plaque left:

TO THE EVERLASTING MEMORY
OF THE MEMBERS OF
THE 1ST HUSSARS

BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, WHO TOGETHER WITH
OTHER ALLIED CANADIAN AND ALLIED SERVICEMEN
PARTICIPATED IN THE GLORIOUS CAMPAIGN OF 1944-1945
THE LED TO THE LIBERATION OF THE NETHERLANDS

PRESENTED BY:
THE GRATEFUL DUTCH CANADIANS OF LONDON
MAY 1970

RE-DEDICATED JUNE 6, 1998 BY:
THE DUTCH CANADIANS REMEMBER
COMMITTEE OF 1995

Side plaque right:
1944     1994
THIS PLAQUE IS PLACED HERE TO COMMEMORATE
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALLIED INVASION
OF NORMANDY ON D DAY, 6TH JUNE 1944.
IT IS DEDICATED TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE
FIRST HUSSARS; TO THOSE WHO TOOK PART IN THE
ASSAULT, TO THOSE WHO FOUGHT IN THE EUROPEAN
CAMPAIGN, AND TO THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES TO
LIBERATE FRANCE, BELGIUM AND HOLLAND.
"HODIE NON CRAS"