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.
Moving tribute
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteYes, this is a beautiful tribute indeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteIt is Remembrance Day here too though we just observe a minute of silence at 11am. We have our parades on Anzac Day in April.
ReplyDeleteFitting.
DeleteIt 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.
ReplyDeleteThey are.
DeleteStrong pictures. Hard to think of the sad families that had to bear the loss - and the fear before that.
ReplyDeleteTrue.
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