Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Paying Final Respects To The Fallen

Later this week sees Remembrance Day. November 11th is also known as Veterans Day or Armistice Day elsewhere, but here in Canada, it is Remembrance Day, a day to pay our respects to those who served in war, and those who died in it.  


These first shots are from several years ago, on a spring day when I visited Beechwood Cemetery, a historic cemetery in Ottawa with the graves of many prominent people, locally and nationally. Two sections of this large property have been set aside as a national military cemetery, and this is one of them, with the tombstones done in the same manner as originally laid out by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, a legacy of the First World War that carries on its work today.


I attend the national service held at the Canadian War Memorial, which occupies the very heart of Confederation Square. I usually choose a spot ideal for watching the parade past after the ceremony has ended. It begins with bagpipes.


Followed by the veterans- a smaller group by the year.


Active services follow them. A very solemn and moving ceremony, and one that draws out the public each year.

10 comments:

  1. Yes, this is a beautiful tribute indeed.

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  2. It is Remembrance Day here too though we just observe a minute of silence at 11am. We have our parades on Anzac Day in April.

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  3. It is mind-numbing to see those many rows of graves and realize that they mark the deaths of so many young men. Wars are a plague on us all.

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  4. Strong pictures. Hard to think of the sad families that had to bear the loss - and the fear before that.

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