Even though Remembrance Day has come and gone, the Royal Canadian Legion in Big Valley is showing that honouring our fallen is not limited to a single day of the year.
The Big Valley Legion is holding a parade and presentation to honour the 14th Calgary Armoured Tank Regiment who landed on the beaches of Dieppe on August 19, 1942.
The event starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 15.
Some of the men who were at Dieppe were from Big Valley and the Stettler area.
“They were all a bunch of farm boys, with a few city guys. We had residents from the village here and the Stettler area in that regiment,” said Lorne Parkin, Big Valley Legion member who is helping to organize the event.
The Big Valley Legion is hoping the survivors from the area, or their families, will be able to attend.
“We’re going to have some of the Dieppe children, from those who survived, here. Archie Anderson’s son will be here for instance,” said Parkin. Anderson was a survivor of Dieppe, who passed away several years ago.
The raid on Dieppe is one of the largest single losses suffered by Canadian troops. Over 6,086 soldiers made it ashore during the raid. Of those, 3,623 were killed, wounded, or captured. Most were Canadian.
The raid on Dieppe, and the losses that came with it, were considered to be a necessary evil for later operations, such as the invasion of Normandy.
The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. with a short parade, followed by a presentation of a WWII artifact, and social.
“It’s a Tommy Gun from the war archives. It’ll be attached to a plaque and mounted in a case. We’re going to put it on the wall in the Legion,” said Parkin. “It was supposed to be done on Remembrance Day, but they didn’t have the plaque ready.”
Anyone wishing to attend, whether they be from Big Valley, Stettler, Drumheller, or anywhere else, is encouraged to come out to remember and honour those who fell at Dieppe.
The Big Valley Legion will be hosting a special event on Saturday, at 1 p.m., to honour the 14th Calgary Armoured Tank Regiment, some of whom were from the Big Valley/Stettler area, who fought in the Dieppe raid (a painting of which is prominently displayed at the Big Valley Legion) on August 19, 1942. There will be a short parade, followed by a presentation of a WWII artifact to the Legion.
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