Nova ScotiaA Second World War memorial that was saved from a wildfire in West Dalhousie, N.S., has been returned to the site in time for Remembrance Day.Monument to victims of 1944 plane crash returned in time for Remembrance DayVernon Ramesar · CBC News · Posted: Nov 09, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Cory Isenor, right, Jonathan Gillis and Debbie Stultz-Giffin celebrate the return of the memorial cross. (Jonathan Gillis)A Second World War memorial that was saved from a wildfire in West Dalhousie, N.S., has been returned to the site in time for Remembrance Day.For provincial land technician Cory Isenor, ensuring the memorial cross was preserved for future generations was deeply personal.”I feel very lucky to be able to be in the position I was,” says Isenor.In August, his job was on the front lines fighting the Long Lake wildfire, which became the largest in Nova Scotia in 2025. On Oct. 29, Isenor and others cleaned up the area and put the cross back in its original place. (Jonathan Gillis)He learned that a treasured local memorial for a 1944 plane crash that killed two young airmen was in the path of the fire.Isenor and his team made it to the site on Aug. 14 and began work to protect the area as best they could.After the fire moved through four days later, he saw that a fallen tree had damaged the arm of the wooden cross. He knew he had to act. “From being there in the West Dalhousie community, it was very, very easy to tell the importance of the plane crash site,” he said.Isenor says he got permission to remove the cross. He drove it back to the West Dalhousie community centre.Isenor removed the memorial cross from the crash site to protect it from the wildfire. (Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources)Jonathan Gillis, the community hall president, says Isenor downplays his role in saving the cross. But he credits him with taking action.”The [memorial] spot was tangible for all of us,” Gillis says.”That was one of the first times we actually took a quiet moment to realize how big things were getting here.”Gillis says someone repaired the cross after it was taken to the hall. Gillis thinks Isenor took it upon himself.”It disappeared for a couple of days and came back with a coat of paint and a couple of repairs,” he says.”Nobody wanted to say who did it, but my Spidey senses will tell me that’s exactly who it was,” Gillis says.The memorial site is located in a remote area of West Dalhousie. (Jonathan Gillis)For the record, Isenor says he doesn’t know who made the repairs, or at least won’t say.After the cross was brought to safety, the community was so thankful that it decided to throw Isenor a surprise birthday party after learning his birthday was the next day.Gillis and Debbie Stultz-Giffin, another community volunteer, had 10 ice cream cakes delivered to the hall.That night, they called a meeting and surprised Isenor.”We sang a collective happy birthday to Cory,” Gillis says. “You want to see a big guy with a soft spot? That was the moment. It was a pretty cool moment.”Once the fire danger passed, Isenor says the goal was always to return the cross in time for Remembrance Day.Isenor says the site needed a bit of cleanup to make it as safe as possible. (Jonathan Gillis)On Oct. 29, Isenor and a few others went back to the site.They cleaned up the area and put the cross back in its original place.”The site did need a little bit of cleanup in order to make it as safe as possible,” Isenor says.”But that’s what we were able to do… thanks to some great, great effort by … not only me but some other DNR employees.”Gillis says the remote site on what’s known locally as “Plane Crash Trail” has long been a place to go for people who want to pay their respects to the fallen.”It’s that quiet spot that a lot of people forget,” Gillis says. “So, it’s a spot that people go to show a different kind of respect.”MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORVernon Ramesar is a reporter and video and radio journalist originally based in Trinidad. He now lives in Halifax.
A damaged memorial cross rescued from the Long Lake wildfire is back where it belongs
