A Remembrance Day service has been taking place in the Royal Westminster Regiment Armoury for nearly a century.
This year’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the Armoury includes the singing of a hymn, O Canada and God Save the Queen and readings of a series of poems. It also features a speech by Brian McKenna, a retired warrant office from The Royal Westminster Regiment’s army reserves who served in Afghanistan.
“We’d appreciate people showing their support, coming out to the event,” said Adjutant Capt. Richard Desaulniers with The Royal Westminster Regiment. “We look forward to another full house.”
The regiment’s ceremony starts at 9:45 a.m., but doors open at 8:30 a.m. at 530 Queens Ave. Prior to the main event, people can watch a slide show of images from the First World War and listen to a selection of music played by The Royal Westminster Regiment Band.
“If they would like seating, they should definitely get there early,” Desaulniers advised. “Usually about around 9:15 a.m. we are at capacity for seating. We will have some standing room, but those who arrive later than 9:15 probably won’t have any seating.”
The service will wrap up at 10:15 a.m., at which time participants will parade to the cenotaph and join the city’s Remembrance Day ceremony in front of New Westminster City Hall. The city’s ceremony, which includes the laying of wreaths at the cenotaph and observing two minutes of silence at 11 a.m., begins at 10:30 a.m.
Karen Baker-MacGrotty, honorary colonel of The Royal Westminster Regiment, said 2017 marks the anniversary of some significant battles from the First World War.
“This will be the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, Hill 70 and Vimy Ridge,” she said. “Our soldiers from The Royal Westminster Regiment – at that time it was the Westminster Regiment – they served in those battles. It’s the 100th anniversary of those battles so there will be some reflection on that.”
According to Desaulniers, there has been a Remembrance Day event in the Armoury every year since 1918.
