Field of Crosses ceremony to mark 80th anniversary of Dieppe, 105 years since Vimy Ridge

The Field of Crosses along Calgary’s Memorial Drive will play host to another observance of Remembrance Day this year.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid and the 105th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

The ceremonies will be livestreamed on this page starting at 10:30 a.m. Global News anchor Linda Olsen will be the master of ceremonies.

A parade of Calgary Police Service members, members of the Calgary Fire Department, pipers and drums, the CFD honour guard and Cantare Children’s Choir will all be part of the proceedings.

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces will conduct a flyby of the site before the laying of wreaths and roll call of the fallen soldiers.

The Dieppe Raid on Aug. 19, 1942, was an amphibious attack by Allied forces on the German-held northern France port of Dieppe. Some historians have called it one of the darkest chapters in Canada’s military history after 916 were killed, 2,210 were wounded and 1,946 were taken prisoner.

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But military historians also say the lessons learned at Dieppe helped produce the successes of the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy in June 1944.

More than 3,600 crosses representing southern Albertans who served their country in war make up the Field of Crosses along Memorial Drive between 3 Street N.W. and Centre Street. This year will mark the transition of its care from a veterans’ motorcycle group to CPS volunteers.

Four other Remembrance Day ceremonies are happening in Calgary: at the Hangar Flight Museum, at the Military Museums, at the Canadian Pacific Memorial and at Fort Calgary.