It was cold. The official Timmins temperature at 11:00am on the 11th day of the 11th month was minus-16 degrees. Many veterans and other Legionnaires taking part in the Timmins Remembrance Day observance might still think of it as “four above” Fahrenheit.
But when you consider the two World Wars, the Korean conflict and every other Canadian military combat operation in the past 105 years, those conditions pale in comparison to what our fighting forces had to endure. That’s why we honour them every year, on the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice in 1918 to end the First World War, “the war to end all wars.”
The annual Legion Branch 88 Remembrance Day ceremony is held at the cenotaph at Hollinger Park.
If anything, the sunny, crisp air made the bugle, the rest of the musical instruments and the rifles fired in tribute sound that much more poignant.
Branch 88 sergeant at arms Andrea Villeneuve led the ceremony, and drew special attention to one particular battle.
“This year we would like to remember the Canadian troops that played a vital role in the 20-month Mediterranean campaign which led to the liberation of Italy during the Second World War,” she said.
The observance wrapped up with the traditional laying of wreaths at the foot of the cenotaph. The first was by M.C. Tourangeau on behalf of Silver Cross mothers. A Silver Cross mother is one who lost a child to “the supreme sacrifice” of that child’s life in combat.
