A longstanding tradition that completes the National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa is the standard march past, paying homage to Canada’s Veterans. With the cancellation of the 2020 march due to the pandemic, the traditional tribute will be made instead with a special edition of the symbolic fly-past.
A longstanding tradition that completes the National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa is the standard march past, paying homage to Canada’s Veterans. With the cancellation of the 2020 march due to the pandemic, the traditional tribute will be made instead with a special edition of the symbolic fly-past.
It will also mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Looking up to the sky in 2020
In partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada, The Royal Canadian Legion has arranged a fly-past of three heritage planes that were essential aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the Second World War.
Douglas C-47
PHOTO: Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (Mount Hope, ON)
The C-47 Dakota equipped RCAF No. 437 Squadron in Europe and No. 435 and 436 Squadrons in South East Asia. This C-47, belonging to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum located in Mount Hope, ON flew over 400 missions with the RCAF during the Second World War. It repatriated over 200 Prisoners of War, was also part of the D-Day drop and operation Market Garden.
Curtiss P-40
PHOTO: Mike Potter Aircraft Collection (Gatineau Airport)
RCAF No. 400 Squadron used Kittyhawks operationally, conducting a number of armed sweeps over France in late 1941. One of the greatest P-40 pilots anywhere was Canada's own W/C James "Stocky" Edwards who flew hundreds of successful Kittyhawk missions with 260 Squadron in the North African campaign.
North American Harvard
PHOTO: Mike Potter Aircraft Collection (Gatineau Airport)
The first of the North American Harvards was delivered to RCAF Sea Island, B.C. in July 1939. The production of Canadian-built Harvards began in 1941. It was used as the primary trainer of the RCAF and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
Coverage on television and Facebook
The vintage planes will fly by at 1,000 feet (305 m) overhead at the end of the ceremony. With a maximum of 100 participants, the more intimate commemoration will still begin with many familiar sights and sounds and will include the solemn two minutes of silence at 11:00 a.m. This year, Canadians are invited to watch the ceremony on national television or via the Legion’s Facebook Live presentation.
Learn more
Updates from the Legion National Headquarters about this year’s ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa can be found here: https://legion.ca/news/articles/2020/08/31/national-remembrance-day-ceremony-2020-a-more-intimate-commemoration
About The Royal Canadian Legion
Founded in 1925, the Legion is Canada’s largest Veteran support and community service organization. We are a non-profit organization with a national reach across Canada as well as branches in the U.S., Europe and Mexico. With 260,000 members, many of whom volunteer an extraordinary amount of time to their branches, our strength is in our numbers.
Public Relations / Media Inquiries: PublicRelations@Legion.ca / 343-540-7604
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