Remembrance Day ceremonies held throughout B.C.

Thousands gathered at ceremonies across British Columbia on Monday to mark Remembrance Day and honour armed forces members who died in service of their country. 

The City of Vancouver held its annual ceremony at the city's Victory Square. It was the 100th time Remembrance Day has been commemorated in front of the cenotaph at Victory Square, which was erected in 1924 at the corner of Hastings and Cambie streets to honour those who died in the First World War.

The event included a procession through the city, two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. PT, and a commemorative flyover by the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Percival J. Smith, a 101-year-old merchant navy veteran of the Second World War,  was among those who gathered in downtown Vancouver for the ceremony.

Smith said he was glad to honour friends who gave their lives to their country during the Second World War, but he doesn't know if his health will stand up to next year's ceremony at the memorial that was inaugurated the year after his birth.

Smith says he was in "terrible danger" during most of his service, but he and his shipmates didn't think of dying, but rather "what the next day was going to be like."

Danger aside, Smith said his service during the Second World War taught him discipline and it was "the best time" of his life. 

Elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, the Royal Canadian Legion's Cloverdale Branch held an event and procession at 10 a.m. at Surrey's Veterans Square.

In Victoria, the official provincial ceremony was held at the Parliament Buildings, as usual. It started with a parade at 10:30 a.m. PT, followed by a ceremony at the Victoria Cenotaph.

Retired Cpl. Neil Dancer, who served in Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, said the ceremony helps him deal with mental health issues connected to his military service. 

"I ended up carrying a lot of responsibility over there and it really messed with my head over the years," he said. 

"You live with the decisions you had to make. It's not always easy and that's why we show up here every year just so none of the kids that are here have to go through what any of us had to go through."

Other events were held throughout B.C., with the legion maintaining a list of some of them on its website.

An Ipsos poll conducted in October for Historica Canada shows that many Canadians are unaware of their history ahead of Remembrance Day, with some veterans saying it's more important than ever to remember veterans' sacrifices.