History of the Memorial at Mogshade Hill
January 2016 – Update
The Forestry Commission, New Forest National Park Authority and those who have looked after this memorial over the years are now working together to restore and maintain the site for the future. A new Facebook site (managed by Solent Heritage Project and Sarah Stewart) has been set up to help present our plans and gain your thoughts prior to submitting a grant application to fund the project. We would still love to hear from you with historical information about the site so please add your comments below or contact the Forestry Commission via email or phone: 03000 645001.
September 2015:
The WWII project team recently received a letter from High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom regarding this Canadian memorial at Mogshade Hill. The New Forest National Park Authority working together with the High Commission of Canada and the Forestry Commission would like to explore opportunities to improve the interpretation of this site and ensure its maintenance for the foreseeable future.
We would like to make contact with those who have looked after this memorial over the years. If you have a personal interest in this site the FC would like to hear from you. Please contact the Forestry Commission Rangers by leaving a message at enquiries.southern@forestry.gsi.gov.uk or phoning the number: 03000 645001.
On the 14th April, 1944 the Rev. R. Keith Perdue of the Canadian Chaplain’s Service serving with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, looking for a suitable site on which to hold Church Services for his men, chose for that purpose the site at Mogshade Hill with its beautiful vista of Highland Water Inclosure and the distant hills.
He found two pine logs with the bark on, bolted them together in the form of a Cross and erected it by the side of the Inclosure fence. In front of the Cross he placed a flag-covered altar and the men stood facing down the slope towards the altar and the Cross, and as the ground fell sharply away behind the Cross it stood out sharply against the skyline.
The site was used for Church Services from 14th April, 1944 until the men left for the Normandy invasion.
In 1949 the Deputy Surveyor of the New Forest wrote to the Canadian High Commissioner in London, giving him the history of the Cross and informing him that as it was of unseasoned pine it was rapidly falling into decay and suggesting that it might be appropriate to perpetuate the memory of this incident by replacing the pine Cross with one hewn from New Forest oak and placing at its foot a simple inscription carved on oak.
The High Commissioner communicated with Rev. Keith Perdue who suggested that the inscription should read:
“On April 14th, 1944 a Cross was erected on this site to the Glory of God, by men of the 3rd Canadian Division, R.C.A.S.C.”.
The original Cross was replaced with one in New Forest oak made to the same dimensions and held together with the original bolt, but the commemorative plaque was not erected.
In 1960 the Director of Forestry for England suggested that the rather flimsy construction of the Cross was not really worthy of the occasion and that it should be replaced by a more solid and permanent memorial with a commemorative plaque.
A sturdy Cross constructed of the New Forest oak has now been erected on the site of the original Cross and a plaque bearing the following inscription has been placed at the foot of the Cross:
“On this site a Cross was erected to the Glory of God on 14th April, 1944 and services were held here until “D” day, 6th June, 1944, by men of the 3rd Canadian Division, R.C.A.S.C”.
In 1969 the plaque having become weather worn over the years was removed, refurbished and replaced in a new concrete plinth by the Bournemouth Branch of an ex-serviceman’s association. At the same time the Forestry Commission renovated the fencing and levelled the area around the Cross.
“On this day, the 10th June, 1984, 40 years later, a Memorial Service is held on the site in remembrance of the 3rd Canadian Division, R.C.A.S.C. who gave their service in the freedom of tyranny during the Second World War.”