Remembrance Day

 November 11 is observed to varying degrees as Remembrance Day. The date was established by the signing of the Armistice that ended the First World War at 11:00 a.m. November 11, 1918. It has since become the commemoration day for those lost and those who served in the First and Second Word Wars, the Korean War and subsequent conflicts.

Some businesses close for all or part of the day, but it is not a statutory holiday. There are ceremonies and wreath laying at memorial sites throughout the country with gun salutes and (conditions permitting) fly pasts. 

In the Halifax area there are numerous events on land, with a minute of silence observed at 11:00 a.m. and a twenty-one gun salute from Citadel Hill. The Royal Canadian Navy participates with a wreath laying off the Naval Memorial at Point Pleasant. Today the HMCS St. John's was designated as host ship. It got underway from HMC Dockyard with three Dockyard tugs assisting then following at a distance to assist in positioning the ship for the ceremony.

A small RHIB boat brought the mooring party back on board after they cast off the ship's lines.

The tugs Glenside, Listerville and Granville assisted in the operation.

(The tanker Algoscotia, anchored in the background, is visible through the rain.) 

 Unfortunately due to the rain, high winds, and low ceiling, a helicopter fly past was cancelled. Last week I saw what may have been practice flights for formation flying - a rare event for naval helos.

                                       Three helicopters over Shearwater, November 3.

 

Two RCN Cormorant helicopters seen from Point Pleasant, November 6. 

Normal harbour traffic continued throughout the solemn hour with ships coming and going. Dollars win every war. Even the Hero class patrol vessel CCGC Private Robertson V.C. arrived about noon, apparently oblivious to the significance of the day and time and even the name of their own ship. Private James Peter Robertson was a native of Nova Scotia and died November 6, 1917 while rescuing two of his wounded comrades during the Second Battle of Passchendaele. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously, the highest military honour. Surely the ship could have timed its arrival by half and hour to at least stand by for the wreath laying.

.