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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
