Hundreds gather for Remembrance Day ceremony in St. John's despite change of location
Hundreds braved the cold and wet weather to pay tribute to veterans in St. John's. (John Pike/CBC)
For almost a hundred years, the Remembrance Day ceremony in St. John's has been marked at the National War Memorial on Duckworth Street.
But this year, the ceremony took place at the Sergeants' Memorial on Queen's Road, due to ongoing renovations at the National War Memorial in preparation for its 100th anniversary. A Tomb of The Unknown Soldier is being installed at the memorial, among other repairs and changes.
Despite the change in location, hundreds still gathered to remember the sacrifices of fallen soldiers. Members of the military, politicians and the general public crowded both Queen's Road and Garrison Hill for speeches, prayers and performances from the CLB band.
"To all the men of whatever description who gave their life and left their bones in a foreign land, nor saw again this island home that they loved, the fathers and mothers of the dead do not forget them," said Perry Grandy, chair of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Advisory Council, in a speech where he quoted Sir Charles Alexander Harris's remarks made at the unveiling of the Sergeants' Memorial in 1921.
"These men who gave their lives are the sons of all of us in real fact."
Grandy hosted the ceremony, beginning the event with a reading of the poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, before sharing the history of the Sergeants' Memorial.
Representatives from the RCMP are pictured here saluting the Sergeants' Memorial after laying a wreath. (John Pike/CBC News)
"This was the original location of Memorial Day ceremonies," said Mike O'Brien, a history professor at Memorial University, in reference to the Sergeants' Memorial.
He was impressed with the turnout despite the wet, cold and windy weather.
"This means a lot to Newfoundlanders," said O'Brien. "Crowds tend to be growing now year-to-year."
'An era passes'
O'Brien noted that there are fewer and fewer Second World War veterans at the ceremony every year.
"We're seeing the last of the World War Two veterans now," O'Brien said. "An era passes."
Saturday's ceremony also featured several laying of wreaths, including one from Lieutenant Governor Judy Foote. Her wreath laying represented her last major function in advance of the appointment of a new lieutenant governor this Tuesday.
Remembrance Day was also marked in several other ceremonies across the province.
While The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Band usually performs at the ceremony in St. John's, this year the band performed in Corner Brook. Over 200 members of the Newfoundland Regiment marched in Corner Brook's Remembrance Day parade this year.
