Case Study
The National Cemetery of Canada

Established in 1873, Beechwood Cemetery is a National Historic Site and was recognized as the National Cemetery of Canada in 2009 by an Act of Parliament.

Its breathtaking park-like setting boasts 160 acres of colourful gardens, century-old trees, ponds, fountains and over 35,000 spring tulips.

Transforming Canada's National Cemetery

"Memory Anchor stands to transform the way our visitors and dignitaries navigate and experience Beechwood. Memory Anchor allows everyone to visit, commemorate and embrace the community's history and legacy in a meaningful way. We're thrilled to bring Memory Anchor technology to Beechwood Cemetery."
Nicolas McCarthy
Director of Marketing, Communications and Community Outreach, Beechwood Cemetery
This is a snippet of a scanned hand-drawn map of the Department of Veterans Affairs/Commonwealth War Graves Commission section with its distinctive "Union Jack" arrangement.
The Memory Anchor Cloud software is seen here with the Pathing Editor feature, which allows users to define walkable routes. The Memory Anchor Cloud software works on smartphones and on the desktop.

Before & After: From Hand-drawn Maps to Digital Maps

Beechwood National Cemetery
Ottawa, Canada

The Beechwood and Memory Anchor teams worked to define optimal routes and digital wayfinding across the 160 acre site.

Before, at top is a snippet of a scanned hand-drawn map of the Department of Veterans Affairs/Commonwealth War Graves Commission section with its distinctive “Union Jack” arrangement. 

After, below is the Memory Anchor Cloud software showing the same section with the Pathing Editor feature active. The Pathing Editor allows users to define walkable routes. 

Memory Anchor Cloud software allows cemetery operators to manage their cemetery data on mobile and on the desktop.

This is a snippet of a 32 page printable PDF designed to spotlight Afghanistan conflict casualties at the National Military Cemetery section at Beechwood Cemetery.
The Memory Anchor mobile app, showing the veteran records that were previously available in PDF format.

Before & After: From 32 page PDF to the App

Beechwood National Cemetery
Ottawa, Canada

The Beechwood and Memory Anchor teams worked together to transfer notable Afghanistan conflict burials at Beechwood to the Memory Anchor mobile app.

Before, at top is a snippet of a 32 page PDF created to spotlight notable casualties of the Afghanistan conflict.

After, below is the Memory Anchor mobile app, showing the veteran records that were previously available in PDF format. 

The Memory Anchor mobile app is available for free on iOS and Android smartphones.

The paper map that Beechwood would previously supply to visitors to navigate the 160 acre cemetery.
The Memory Anchor mobile app, showing the new digital map that was previously available in paper format.

Before & After: From Paper Visitor Maps to Digital Maps

Beechwood National Cemetery
Ottawa, Canada

The Beechwood and Memory Anchor teams worked together to make cemetery navigation easy with digital maps on the Memory Anchor mobile app.

Before, at top is the paper map that Beechwood would previously supply to visitors to navigate the 160 acre cemetery.

After, below is the Memory Anchor mobile app, showing the digital map now available onsite that was previously available in paper format. 

The Memory Anchor mobile app is available for free on iOS and Android smartphones.

The PDF/paper map that Beechwood would previously supply to visitors to navigate the 160 acre cemetery.
The Memory Anchor mobile app, showing the new digital tour option that was previously available in PDF/paper format.

Before & After: From PDF Tours to Digital Tours

Beechwood National Cemetery
Ottawa, Canada

The Beechwood and Memory Anchor teams worked together to make cemetery tours easy with digital tours that are easy to update on the Memory Anchor mobile app.

Before, at top is the paper/PDF tour that Beechwood would previously supply to visitors to navigate the 160 acre cemetery.

After, below is the Memory Anchor mobile app, showing the digital tours now available onsite that were previously available in paper/PDF format. 

The Memory Anchor mobile app is available for free on iOS and Android smartphones.

The Memory Anchor mobile app, showing the new digital tour option that was previously available in PDF/paper format.

A New Way to Remember

Beechwood National Cemetery
Ottawa, Canada

The Beechwood and Memory Anchor teams worked together to redefine the visitor experience: now you can stand in front of a veteran’s grave and see their story on the Memory Anchor mobile app.

The Memory Anchor mobile app is available for free on iOS and Android smartphones.

Digital Preservation: 8th Hussars Sherman 'Easy Eight' Tank

Beechwood National Cemetery
Ottawa, Canada

The 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s) is the longest serving armoured regiment in the Canadian Army.

This Sherman tank has been listed by the Canadian Department of Defense, M4A2(76)W HVSS Sherman “Easy 8″ tank (Serial No. 69257), built by Fisher, Reg. No. 30129736, “Hussar”, painted DND 78-749. 294 Sherman M4A3E8 tanks were purchased by the Canadian government in 1947 for Korean War service. They were equipped with the long barrelled 76mm High Velocity gun. E8 referred to the revised hull fitted with HVSS Horizontal volute spring suspension giving a much better ride and so was nicknamed the ‘Easy Eight”. Canadians fought these tanks with distinction in the Korean War.

Digital Preservation: 9/11 Memorial

Beechwood Cemetery
Ottawa, Canada

Dedicated on September 15, 2002, the Beechwood 9/11 Memorial was one of the first 9/11 memorials built. It remains the only memorial dedicated to the Canadians who were killed in the 9/11 attacks.

The plaque has the following inscription:

“IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE CANADIANS LOST À LA MÉMOIRE DES VICTIMES CANADIENNES SEPTEMBER 11 SEPTEMBRE 2001.”

Michael Arczynski Garnet (Ace) Bailey David Barkway Ken Basnicki Joseph Collison Cynthia Connolly Arron Dack Christine Egan Michael Egan Albert Elmarry Meredith Ewart Peter Feidelberg Alexander Filipov Ralph Gerhardt Stuart Lee Mark Ludvigsen Bernard Mascarenhas Colin McArthur Michael Pelletier Donald Robson Ruffino (Roy) Santos Vladimir Tomasevic Chantal (Chanti) Vincelli Debbie Williams Frank Joseph Doyle Jane Beatty LeRoy Homer

The concept for the monument came from Beechwood’s Staff Member Tania Turpin, who understood the need for people to share in their grief and sorrow.

Digital Preservation: Canada's first female combat soldier casualty

Captain Nichola Goddard
Ottawa, Canada

Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, MSM was the first female Canadian combat soldier killed in combat, and the 16th Canadian soldier killed in Canadian operations in Afghanistan.

Memory Anchor co-founder visits his Grandfather's grave at Beechwood

""Beechwood is a special place. My Grandpa is buried here, and getting the software going at Beechwood has been an emotional reunion with him. Charles Mullens had the wickedest sense of humour, he was always a joker. It's a real honour to use this at his grave. Thanks for sharing in this moment with me."
Ryan Mullens
Co-founder at Memory Anchor
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
Sir Winston Churchill
1940