Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. The day is also marked by war remembrances in several other non-Commonwealth countries. In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. The First World War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian veterans' organization founded in 1925. Members include people who served in the military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial or municipal police, Royal Canadian Air, Army and Sea Cadets and direct relatives.
Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate and precisely choreographed. They originated with peacetime and battlefield military drills introduced to enhance unit cohesion and effectiveness in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards of honor, the firing of volley shots as a salute, drumming and other military elements, with a flag draping over the coffin.
Filip Konowal VC was a highly decorated Ukrainian Canadian soldier. He is the first Canadian Corps member not born in the British Empire to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy given to British and Commonwealth forces. He was also entitled to the Cross of St George, 4th Class.
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a war memorial site in France dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It also serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers of the First World War killed or presumed dead in France who have no known grave. The monument is the centrepiece of a 100-hectare (250-acre) preserved battlefield park that encompasses a portion of the ground over which the Canadian Corps made their assault during the initial Battle of Vimy Ridge offensive of the Battle of Arras.
The Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG) is the senior reserve infantry regiment in the Canadian Army. Located in Ottawa at the Cartier Square Drill Hall, the regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry unit, and the members are part-time soldiers.
Thain Wendell MacDowell, VC, DSO, was a Canadian soldier. MacDowell was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
The National War Memorial in Downtown St. John's is the most elaborate of all the post World War I monuments in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was erected at King's Beach on Water Street where, in 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for England. It was formally unveiled on Memorial Day, 1 July 1924 by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig.
The National War Memorial, titled The Response, is a tall, granite memorial arch with accreted bronze sculptures in Ottawa, Ontario, designed by Vernon March and first dedicated by King George VI in 1939. Originally built to commemorate the Canadians who died in the First World War, it was in 1982 rededicated to also include those killed in the Second World War and Korean War and again in 2014 to add the dead from the Second Boer War and War in Afghanistan, as well as all Canadians killed in all conflicts past and future. It now serves as the pre-eminent war memorial of 76 cenotaphs in Canada. In 2000, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added in front of the memorial and symbolizes the sacrifices made by all Canadians who have died or may yet die for their country.
The Ceremonial Guard is an ad hoc military unit in the Canadian Armed Forces that performs the changing the guard ceremony on Parliament Hill and posts sentries at Rideau Hall, with the National War Memorial being sentried by the National Sentry Program (NSP), which is carried out by different regiments and other units in order of precedence throughout the summer until mid-November.
Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role.
Paul Antonio Métivier was one of the last surviving Canadian veterans of the First World War. He was born in Montreal, Quebec.
The 87th Battalion, CEF was a Household Foot Guards infantry unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War.
The relationship between the Canadian Crown and the Canadian Armed Forces is both constitutional and ceremonial, with the king of Canada being the commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces and he and other members of the Canadian royal family holding honorary positions in various branches and regiments, embodying the historical relationship of the Crown with its armed forces. This construct stems from Canada's system of constitutional monarchy and through its 500 years of monarchical history, the relationship symbolically represented through royal symbols, such as crowns on military badges and insignia, coats of arms, royal portraits, and the grant of the royal prefix to various military units and institutions. The role of the Canadian sovereign within the Canadian Armed Forces is established within the Canadian constitution, the National Defence Act, and the King's Regulations and Orders (KR&Os) for the Canadian Forces.
The Unknown Warrior is an unidentified member of the British Imperial armed forces who died on the western front during the First World War. He is interred in a grave at Westminster Abbey, also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
Beechwood Cemetery is the national cemetery of Canada, located in Vanier, Ottawa, Ontario. Over 82,000 Canadians from all walks of life are buried in the cemetery, including Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn, Prime Minister Robert Borden, and several members of Parliament, premiers, Canadian Armed Forces personnel and veterans, Royal Canadian Mounted Police personnel, Canadian Security Intelligence Service intelligence officers, and Hockey Hall of Famers, alongside other notable Canadians. In addition to being Canada's national cemetery, it contains the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Armed Forces and the National Memorial Cemetery of the RCMP.
The 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill were a series of shootings that occurred on October 22, 2014, at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. At the National War Memorial, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a Canadian soldier and reservist on ceremonial sentry duty, was fatally shot by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. Described as mentally unwell, Zehaf-Bibeau then entered the nearby Centre Block parliament building, where members of the Parliament of Canada were attending caucuses. After wrestling with a constable at the entrance, Zehaf-Bibeau ran inside and had a shootout with RCMP officers. He was shot 31 times by six officers and died on scene. Following the shootings, the downtown core of Ottawa was placed on lockdown and majority of schools in Ottawa were on lockdown while police searched for any potential additional threats.
André M. Levesque is a historian, geographer, former public servant and retired Canadian military officer. He is currently the Chancellor of the Priory of Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and also holds volunteer leadership roles for a number of other organizations including association Monument Amicitia France-Canada, Société nationale d'Entraide de la Médaille militaire, and Souvenir français au Canada.
