Nov.11 in Small Town Canada

[Terry]

Here in Canada it seems that Remembrance Day gets bigger each year. Larger crowds, more parades,etc. Quite a far cry from the Vietnam anti-war 1970's era.

I took part in a ceremony in Woodstock,NB, population 6000. There was a very large crowd on hand under sunny skies. The parade had great turnouts from the Royal Canadian Legion and the Anavets, and even in this small town I could see several dozen vets wearing the various stars of World War Two. For the majority they were Italy and/or France & Germany combinations, but I did spot one Air Crew Europe Star and a couple of Atlantic Stars.

Obviously there were many post-WW2 vets, from Korea and the various UN tours. A number of serving Canadian Forces personnel attended as well, and besides the colourful collections of UN and long service gongs, there were medals for the Gulf War and two fellows recently returned to Canada wearing their Afghanistan medals with clasps. As I had been invited to be the reviewing officer, I felt a bit underdressed with just my Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and Canadian Forces Decoration!

I don't know about the UK or the USA, but Nov.11 seems to have increased in importance in the last decade or so. About bloody time!

[Neil Burns]

Sadly the US or at least the NY/NJ area has not seen a similar surge in interest.

There were disappointingly small crowds at the NYC Veteran's Day parade although some of the local parades had a slightly better turnout.

Annoying and disappointing,

Neil

[Guest GeggieYellowknife]

We noted the same strong interest in Remembrance Day here in Yellowknife, NWT. This town of 18,000 annually sees around 1,000 citizens pack into a large double gymnasium to remember Canada's fallen. Perhaps it is because Yellowknifers come from all over Canada and bring with them traditions of remembering Beaumont-Hamel, Vimy, the Somme, Gallipoli, Malta, Italy and Holland. Perhaps it is due to the small-town community feeling that we are so proud of. November 11 in Yellowknife is very much a winter's day. This year, as always, a score of cadets stood vigil at the cenotaph overnight in -15C temperatures and joined the Regular forces and RCMP officers in full dress uniforms, battling the in -20C windchill for the 2 km parade from the cenotaph to the gymnasium. This year I started teaching my 6-year-old about the sacrifices made by his great-great-uncles: my mother's Uncle Allan died of wounds in the battle for Hill 971 with the ANZACs; I remember my father's Uncle Reg struggling with chlorine-burned lungs, a souvenir of the Somme. Little Daniel doesn't really understand yet, but he proudly placed his poppy on a wreath on Tuesday as I explained who we were remembering.

Andrew

[mordac]

Hi Terry and Andrew:

Welcome to the forum Andrew. It's a pleasure having someone from north of 60 onboard!!

I'm pleased to hear about the number of people who attended Remembrance Day ceremonies in Woodstock and Yellowknife.

Here in Port Moody, B.C. (a town of 35,000) we had about 1500 people attend our local ceremony. There was a parade with a colour party, the SFU Pipe Band, the Army, Navy and Air Force cadets, our local police and firefighters, and various children's groups (Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Guides, etc.). There was also a 21 gun salute from the Seymour Artillery Company Royal Engineers and a fly past with vintage war birds.

One endearing moment was when the Colour Sergeant left the parade at about 10:50. He walked over to to a group of about 100 wee ones who were standing by the chain-link fence on the right and at the back of the cenotaph. He told the children that it was customary to stand quietly during the playing of the last post, the two minutes of silence, and the lament. He also warned them about the 21 gun salute and told them not to be frightened by the noise. He was a true gentleman and treated the kids with respect.

Garth