Dear Members and Friends
of the Oskar Halecki Institute in Canada,
The special celebration of Canada Day 2024 took place in St. John’s in Newfoundland where Unknown Soldier was entombed at the Newfoundland National War Memorial today. This Unknown Soldier died as one of 780 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment who died at fields at Beaomont-Hamel in France on July 1, 1916 – the opening day of the Battle of Somme. Only 110 survived that fight, and just 68 were available for roll call the following day…
Today this Unknown Soldier returned home.
Newfoundland and Labrador was the last province, joining the confederation only in 1949 (as Newfoundland and its name was changed in 2001). It is closer to Ireland than it is to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
I observed this somber ceremony this morning on a national CTV special.
Lest we forget…
Happy Canada Day to All of You!
Alexander M. Jablonski
President
The Oskar Halecki Institute in Canada
This is a CBC version with some clips. It is also worth seeing for us.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/newfoundland-memorial-day-2024-1.7249823
