This 2018 Remembrance Day ceremony at The Royal Westminster Regiment Armoury will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
More than 1,400 Westies gave their lives fighting for freedom in the First World War, which ended on Nov. 11, 1918, when Germany signed an armistice, an agreement to stop fighting, that had been prepared by Britain and France.
“We will have a slide show presented from 8:45 to 9:15 a.m. highlighting the 100-year anniversary,” said Adjutant Capt. Richard Desaulniers of The Royal Westminster Regiment. “Our main ceremony starts at 9:45 a.m. It will be about 15 to 20 minutes and then we will be marching down to the city ceremony at 10:30.”
The regiment’s doors will open at 8:30 a.m., and anyone wishing to attend is advised to arrive early as seats fill up fast.
“We’d like to see the community at our ceremony. We appreciate the support from the community,” Desaulniers said. “Usually it’s filled by about 9:15. Unfortunately we will have to turn people away at the door after that.”
The main ceremony includes readings of a selection of poems and the singing of O Canada and God Save the Queen.
Desaulniers said many soldiers from The Royal Westminster Regiment, then known as the Westminster Regiment, served in the First World War and at least 1,400 died during the course of the war.
Community members are also invited to honour those who have fought and served on Canada’s behalf by attending the City of New Westminster’s annual Remembrance Day service, where community groups lay wreaths on the cenotaph and attendees observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. The service gets underway at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11 at the cenotaph in front of New Westminster City Hall, 511 Royal Ave.
Commonwealth countries observe a two-minute silence on Remembrance Day to remember those who lost their lives in conflict. It’s done at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 to coincide with the time in 1918 that the First World War ended.
