HALIFAX -- Commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of The Battle of Atlantic were held on Sunday across the Maritimes, but minor changes had to be made due to the current public health orders surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
A virtual option was provided for those who couldn’t attend the ceremonies, while those who did attend kept their distance from one another.
“We couldn’t just pass up and not go to the Battle of the Atlantic, especially with the air crew being lost on HMCS Fredericton, we had to have some kind of new ceremony to let them know that we remember them every day,” said David Keeping, master of arms.
Normally, the ceremony hosts hundreds of sailors and civilians at Halifax’s Point Pleasant Park to remember the lives lost, and the battle won.
On Sunday, groups across the Maritimes did what they could to remember, including attending the ceremony online.
HMCS Ville de Quebec was anchored just off of Point Pleasant Park as part of the live-streamed ceremony.
“I think of Ray MacKay in particular, who is 97 years old, and sailed out of Sydney Harbour back in the day,” said Cape Breton Naval Veterans Association president, John Newell. “I’m old enough to remember the ships that left Sydney Harbour back in the days.”
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous battle of the Second World War.
Throughout the battle, dozens of Canadian warships were lost in the six years between 1939 and 1945, along with thousands of Canadian soldiers and civilians.
Organizers say it meant a lot to be able to give their surviving veterans the ceremony, despite the ongoing pandemic.
“I’m very proud of them and I know they are proud of all their shipmates that passed away,” said Keeping.
Also remembered on Sunday were the six Canadian Armed Forces members who lost their lives in a helicopter crash off Greece last week.
“I feel very badly for the families of those people. They were serving their country, and serving their community with pride,” said Newell.
