Post by Retrovision on May 7, 2006 9:21:47 GMT -8
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | Sunday May 7, 2006
Events lined up to mark Battle of the Atlantic
By JENNIFER STEWART Staff Reporter
A slew of events will be held this weekend in Halifax to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Victory at Sea and the Battle of the Atlantic.
Every year, members of the military and civilians alike gather to honour the thousands of Canadian sailors, airmen and merchant mariners who died while fighting in the longest single campaign of the Second World War.
Between September 1939 and May 1945, 4,234 members of the Canadian military were killed trying to maintain the shipping routes that link North America and Europe.
In remembrance of those people, and to raise money for the Camp Hill veterans memorial garden, the eighth annual Battle of the Atlantic Musical Gala will take place at 6:15 p.m. today at Pier 21.
The evening will feature entertainment by the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Band, the Stadacona Band, the Nova Voce provincial men’s choir, Liz Rigney and the 12 Wing Shearwater Pipes and Drums.
The opening ceremonies for the CFB Halifax Interfaith Centre will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. The centre will replace St. Brendan’s Chapel, which has served Protestants and Roman Catholics in the Canadian military since 1969.
On Sunday, there will be three events to take in, starting with a ceremony on board HMCS Sackville, where a wreath and the ashes of 16 veterans will be committed to the sea off the coast of Point Pleasant Park. The ship will leave HMC Dockyard at 9:15 a.m.
At 11 a.m., an indoor wreath-laying ceremony will be held indoors at HMCS Scotian, followed by a reception in the wardroom at CFB Halifax.
A similar ceremony will take place at 12:30 p.m. at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to commemorate the merchant navy and Norwegian contributions to the war effort.
(This article can be found online here: thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/501383.html )
