Cadets from Greater Sudbury and the surrounding area, along with Canadian Armed Forces veterans and members of the Navy League of Canada were at Memorial Park Sunday to pay tribute to the thousands of Canadian men and women who gave their lives during the Second World War's Battle of the Atlantic.
“The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous battle of the Second World War,” said Lt. (N) Sean Pretty, who was the event's master of ceremonies.
The Battle of the Atlantic lasted 2,075 days and pitted allied navies against German and Italian naval forces in a battle to safeguard the essential flow of shipping between North America and Europe.
On any given day, 125 merchant vessels sailed in convoy across the North Atlantic. It was during these times that Canada's navy matured and won the mantle of a professional service, said Pretty. Canada's navy escorted 25,343 merchant vessels across the Atlantic.
When the war started Canada's navy had only six ocean-going ships and around 3,500 personnel. By the end of the conflict Canada had one of the largest navies in the world with 434 commissioned vessels and 95,000 men and women in uniform.
More than 1,600 Merchant Navy personnel from Canada and Newfoundland were killed during the Battle of the Atlantic, and more than 2,000 officers with the Royal Canadian Navy, and 752 members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, also sacrificed their lives during the conflict.
Pretty said it's especially important for young people to understand the sacrifices their ancestors made more than 70 years ago.
Members of Sudbury's Admiral Mountbatten Sea Cadet Corps, Espanola's Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Hero, the Navy League Cadet Corps of Sudbury, the 2912 Royal Canadian Army Cadets of Sudbury, the 200 Wolf Squadron Royal Canadian Air Cadets and the 2915 Royal Canadian Army Cadets, from Capreol, participated in the ceremony.
Veterans with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 76 and Navy League of Canada also paid their respects for those who were killed in the conflict.
