-Fighters fly over Manotick during the laying of the wreaths. Photo by Mary Lee
The bluest of skies blanketed the nation's capital today as we honoured our fallen comrades, veterans and serving servicemen and women at a very endearing Remembrance Day Ceremony that took place downtown at the War Memorial and at small communities and legions throughout Ottawa and Gatineau.
This year, an bitter sweet addition made the ceremonies that much more relevant to some of our veterans who served in the RAF and RCAF during he Second World War. Vintage Wings' conducted a beautiful fly-past of the Mustang and Spitfire both over the War Memorial, Aylmer, Centrepointe, and Manotick.
"The Spit and Mustang looked fabulous over Parliament Hill. What an emotional ceremony," commented Jacquie Perrin via email. "Just as the planes first flew over, a veteran from a Halifax bomber told how he and his buddies had to bail out..he lost his leg in the prop. The others were decapitated. With the drone of the aircraft in the background, the story was even more poignant. As the aircraft did a few passes, Peter Mansbridge noted they were having a good time up there. Indeed, how wonderful to see them."
Watch full coverage of the ceremonies on CBC at: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/11/05/f-remembrance-day.html
Advance the feature video to 1:09:25, 1:13:08 and again at 1:15:27 to hear and see the fly-past over the War Memorial at ceremony here today in Ottawa.
From an email addressed to Dave O'Malley:
ReplyDeleteI just watched the Remembrance Day Ceremonies that took place in Ottawa and want to thank you guys at Vintage Wings for flying your Spitfire and Mustang overhead the crowds for the event. As Peter Mansbridge said, "It looked like the two pilots were having fun," but we all know that there is more to it than that. I can only imagine the pride they had in what they were doing and how thankful they are to the young men that flew those planes so many years before them that allows them to do the same today.
Thank you for your involvement in the ceremonies and for providing a tangible memory for the younger generations to witness today.
Sincerely,
David McIntosh
Vancouver, BC
Thank you for sharing your aviation heritage on this day and all days in hopes that we, as Canadians old and young, may never forget the sacrifices made by those in the air, on the sea, and in the trenches.
ReplyDeletePlease allow me to express my most sincere heartfelt thanks for the flypast today of your two WWII vintage aircrafts ( Spitfire & Mustang) over our ceremony in Aylmer Qc. On behalf of the Aylmer Legion, all of its members and all assembled at the ceremony, what a nice touch this was.
ReplyDeleteWe sure hope we will continue this tradition for future years to come. LCol (Ret'd) Alain Couture,MB,CD
Trésorier, Treasurer
Légion Royale Canadienne, Filiale #33
Royal Canadian Legion, Branch # 33
Gatineau (Aylmer)
On behalf of countless people, I thank you for your initiative to contact our Legion and include Manotick in the Remembrance Ceremony flight program. I hope that the Legion will continue a relationship with Vintage Wings. Everybody loved the flyover! - how could it possibly be otherwise. There were many comments, and all were totally positive.
ReplyDeleteAllan Haan
Public Relations Officer
RCL Branch 314, Manotick