A Timmins native is in Belgium participating in Remembrance Week ceremonies.
“I am what is called a Guard Commander for the parades this week which commemorate a number of battles which took place during the First World War. Many of which the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) fought in,” explained Maj. Stephen Wyatt, who is with the PPCLI 1st Battalion.
Wyatt, a Timmins High and Vocational School graduate, has been in the Canadian Armed Forces since 1998 and part of the regular force since 2005.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, which ended Nov. 10, 1917. A Canadian delegation is taking part in commemorative events in Belgium from Nov. 8 to Nov. 12.
Wyatt is participating in a number of ceremonies, including Remembrance Day at Menin Gate Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. That ceremony, as well as others, is being broadcast live by Canada Remembers on Facebook.
During the First World War, British troops heading to the battlefield marched through Ypres (Ieper), Belgium, where the Menin Gate memorial is located.
Since 1928 the Last Post ceremony has been held at Menin Gate nightly, except for during the Second World War. The memorial bears the names of soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient and have no known grave.
