While July 1^st is Canada Day, for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians it is also Memorial Day or Commemoration Day – a day when we remember the tragic events of the Battle of Beaumont Hamel.  The first of July 1916 was the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, when 806 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment climbed out of their trenches and went “over the top” at 8:45am as part of the battle of Beaumont-Hamel. In less than an hour, the regiment was devastated, most killed or wounded within the first 20 minutes of the battle. The next morning, only 68 soldiers answered the roll call. Commemoration Day was established in 1917, just one year later.

Join Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 (representing the San Francisco Bay area), along with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps – Arkansas Division, as they present a Commemoration Day Virtual Service at 8am (Pacific) on Saturday, 01 July.  If you wish to participate and watch the virtual service, please register at:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_30AZE2sGS2S2JtjEYhFXvA

More information can be found at https://royalcanadianlegionus25.com/commemoration-day-virtual-service/

The Commemoration Day Virtual Service began during the first year of the pandemic.  Everything had been shut down, including all of the activities of Royal Canadian Legion US Branch #25.  When the closure began in March our members watched as the annual inspection of our local division of sea cadets cancelled. Then March became April, and then May – and the annual ANZAC Day events and our US Memorial Day service were both cancelled.  By June, the branch had cancelled its third monthly membership meetings, and planning to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations charter, which occurred in San Francisco, was postponed indefinitely.

Around that time a Canadian ex-pat organization called the Digital Moose Lounge contacted us to see if the branch wanted to participate in the virtual Canada Day celebration that they were planning.  One of our executive at the time was a native Newfoundlander, and we saw an opportunity.  As Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are aware, in addition to being Canada Day, July 1st is also Memorial Day or Commemoration Day in the province – a day when we remember the tragic events of the Battle of Beaumont Hamel. To honour that tradition, and as a way to begin to engage both the members of our branch and our local cadets again, we sought to create a virtual sunrise service for Commemoration Day.

The tradition of this virtual service continues as a way to engage our members who are not local to the Bay Area.  Branch 25 is in the process of planning its annual Commemoration Day virtual service.  The virtual service will feature individual videos combined into a single virtual service.  As such, we are asking our members to submit three videos for inclusion in the service:

• a video where you say “Lest we forget”
• a video where you say “We will remember them”
• a video where you say “Happy Canada Day”

You do not need special equipment to record these videos.  A cell phone or tablet video is fine.  We just ask that videos be taken in landscape format, not in portrait.

If possible, dress in their Legion uniform.  However, any formal attire is appropriate (e.g., what you might wear to a Remembrance Day service at your local cenotaph).

Videos can be uploaded to https://tinyurl.com/RCLcommemorationday2023