London, Ont. marks Remembrance Day with pandemic-modified ceremony
Global News
While there were still restrictions in place due to the COVID pandemic, this year's Remembrance Day ceremony in London, Ont., was larger than in 2020.
Hundreds gathered on a mild, overcast Thursday to honour veterans from London, Ont., and across Canada on Remembrance Day 2021.
While the ceremony was larger than last year’s, which was drastically cut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s ceremony was still invite-only so as to avoid large crowds. Veterans from the Parkwood Institute long-term care home were also in attendance, in heated buses parked beside where the ceremony was held.
City officials previously noted that this year’s ceremony would follow its standard format, with a few modifications, such as spectators being discouraged and no marching parade.
The public is invited to lay a wreath at the cenotaph in Victoria Park in downtown London after 1 p.m. Thursday.
For the 15th consecutive year, Carolyn Wilson was the Silver Cross mother. Her son, Trooper Mark Wilson, was killed in 2006 after his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device while he was serving in Afghanistan.
Wilson was one of eight individuals to lay official wreaths at the cenotaph during the ceremony, doing so on behalf of the different levels of government and the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP and Royal Canadian Legion as well as the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire.
Retired Lt. Col. Rick Phillips served as the parade commander. Phillips served more than 40 years and comes from “a family of service that’s been involved in all of the major conflicts that Canada has gone through since the Boer War,” which began in 1899. His daughter is also serving in the military and just recently returned from a roughly year-long overseas mission.