The Arthur Currie Play Park, Vis-en-Artois, France

Westmount, Quebec – 07 February 2026: First, our thanks to Michel Gravel for bringing this to our attention. Michel has written several books about the Canadians in the First World War, and he recently pointed us toward a small place in northern France where remembrance takes a surprisingly living form: a children’s park.

The Arthur Currie Play Park sits on ground that carries a very specific Canadian distinction. On this exact spot, on 27 August 1918, Currie’s Canadian Corps reached, ahead of all other armies, territory that had been held by the enemy since 1914. It is one of those clean, sharp moments where the history of the Canadian Corps is not abstract, it is geographic, you can stand on it.

And then you look around and realize what that ground has become.

During the landscaping work for the park, the French Army disposed of 20 unexploded ordnance discovered on site. A century later, even the simple act of building swings and slides can still trigger the practical aftershocks of the Western Front.

The village’s response was not to build a sombre memorial space. Instead, Vis-en-Artois chose a kitsch, Canadian “Wild West” theme, and honestly, it works. The result is bright, playful, and immediately legible to kids. In its own way, it is a thoughtful form of remembrance: it keeps the name “Currie” in daily use, attached not only to war, but to life continuing.

Michel summed up the story with typical modesty: “I did nothing for this to happen, except maybe I wrote books in French.” Whether or not that is true, it is hard not to appreciate the idea behind it. A village marked by battle chose to commemorate Canadians not only by looking backward, but by building something for children, on the very ground where Canadians once pushed the line forward.