A Field of Care : the National Vimy Memorial and the commemoration of missing Canadian Great War servicemen in France.

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, designed by Walter Allward and erected through the auspices of the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission, was unveiled in 1936. The memorial, in addition, stands as the commemorative register of teh 11.285 Canadian Great War servicemen in France with unknown graves, commonly called the missing. This article, drawing upon the insights of cultural geographer Kenneth E. Foote, posits that the memorial and its surrounds, post-unveiling, exists as a so-called field of care, namely, a sanctified site that has been ceremonially consecrated, boasts a steady custodial history, and remains an active venue for commemorative events, amongst other considerations.