Remembering their sacrifice
Pandemic restrictions force a quieter, more sombre tribute
The Avro Lancaster circled the cloudy skies above Fairview Cemetery on Wednesday, just as Niagara Falls’ Remembrance Day service came to an end.
The Second World War British bomber made a brief flight from Hamilton’s Warplane Heritage Museum to Niagara, and directly above a small crowd gathered at the cemetery for a service that was far different than those of years past.
Traditionally, the service is held at Gale Centre, and at Niagara Falls Memorial Arena before that.
Hundreds of wreathes would be laid, followed by a parade of participants before a large audience. The ongoing global pandemic, however, put an end to any large gatherings.
Despite the pandemic restrictions, the Niagara Falls Central Veterans Committee was determined to honour the people who had made the supreme sacrifice.
“There was never a doubt something would be done,” said Tom Metcalf, a committee member and president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 396 in Chippawa.
The small, invitation-only service was held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Stanley Avenue cemetery.
Although the setting was markedly different from previous years, the message remained the same.
“We will remember our fallen comrades and those who have passed since we last gathered,” Metcalf said during the solemn service.
In the past, hundreds of people would lay wreathes before a series of murals that pay tribute to Canada’s war dead.
“As I look at these pandemic times, things are terribly different than what I remember as child growing up, going to Remembrance Day services as a boy scout, an Air Force cadet and a military chaplain,” said Rev. Canon Jim Powell of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Chippawa.
The service included two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. and several cannon salutes.
In past years, young cadets who attended the service would have spent the previous night standing guard at the cenotaph on Clifton Hill.
There were no cadets this year. There was, however, a wreath at the base of the monument.
The wreath was placed on Monday by members of Russell (Sandy) Sanderson’s family.
During the Second World War, he was one of five young Canadian soldiers who volunteered for the sniper brigade of the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment of Canada. He is featured in the History Channel’s 2016 docudrama “Black Watch Snipers.”
For years, Sanderson would stand as a silent guard at the cenotaph every Nov. 11.
The Niagara Falls native moved to Hamilton in the early 2000s, and would make the annual pilgrimage to the monument on Remembrance Day,
He died in 2016 at the age of 90. His wife Marie has vowed to carry on his tradition and visits Niagara every Remembrance Day to lay a wreath.
Due to ongoing health issues, she was unable to lay the wreath herself this year but watched from the car as a family member placed the wreath at the monument.
“Their sacrifices should never be forgotten,” she said. “We should support them and thank them … so many didn’t come back.”