Dear editor,
On April 25 our museum (HMCS Alberni Museum and Memorial) was host to a North Vancouver Island Anzac Day service as well as the commemoration for the centennial of the Battle of Gallipoli.
The ceremony, attended by locals and visitors from other nations, proved to be a very successful event and a wonderful addition to our Days of Remembrance we host at HAMM throughout the year. It was indeed an honour to create an event which means so much to those in our community who have Ozzie or Kiwi ties and see the local support from Canadians who came to pay homage to the Australian and New Zealand Forces who have served so proudly alongside of our own Canadian Forces for the past 100 years. And yes, there were even a few Newfies in attendance to honour the service and sacrifice of the Newfoundland-Labrador soldiers who served beside the Anzac at Gallipoli during the Great War.
It couldn’t have happened however without the wonderful contribution from those who told stories for our minds, baked Anzac Biscuits for our stomachs and sang songs for our hearts.
Of special note we want to thank 19 Wing Padre Thompson, Captain John Cowan C.S.C. R.A.N (Australia), Matthew Rennie; Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association (Wellington, NZ), Branch 160 (Comox) Royal Canadian Legion, Berwick-Comox Valley, and Les Spilsbury.
Lewis Bartholomew
Executive Director
The Alberni Project - HMCS Alberni Museum and Memorial
Comox