For the second year in a row, members of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets ​​​​​​​205 Collishaw Squadron will stand guard at the Nanaimo Cenotaph starting Friday, Nov. 10 at 5 p.m., finishing their watch shortly before the Remembrance Day ceremony the next morning. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

standing on guard

Local cadets to hold all-night vigil at Nanaimo Cenotaph

Nov 7, 2023 | 5:31 AM

NANAIMO — Local cadets will once again be standing guard for those who served leading up to the Nanaimo Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Members from the Royal Canadian Air Cadets ​​​​​​​205 Collishaw Squadron will take guard positions around the Nanaimo Cenotaph in Dallas Square Park starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10.

Commanding officer Capt. David Ruel said it’s a great experience for their young cadets who volunteer for this honour.

“I always tell them to reflect upon why they’re able to do this and the reasons why. We have the freedoms that we have and it’s their ways of paying respect, so that way when they are actually on the Cenotaph doing their guard duty, they can think about the reasons why they are able to do that in a free society.”

The cadets will first lower the flags to half-mast, and recite ‘In Flanders Field’ and ‘The Ode to Remembrance’ (For the Fallen) before cadets take their posts on each corner of the Cenotaph.

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Between 30-60 cadets will take shifts four at a time until around 10:45 a.m. the morning of Remembrance Day, where they will be replaced by the primary reserve soldiers prior to the official ceremony.

“We do an actual guard change about every 15-20 minutes depending on the weather and stuff like that,” Ruel told NanaimoNewsNOW. “We have a little bit of a shift change ceremony or guard changing ceremony, new guard comes on relieving the old guard.”

They are also planning a candlelight vigil at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 at the Cenotaph for any members of the public who would like to attend.

A 24-hour vigil was held in 2022, but Ruel said they were unable to go as long this year due to school schedules. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Ruel said local businesses and groups like the Nanaimo Legion 256 and St. Paul’s Anglican Church have stepped up to provide snacks and shelter for the cadets during their watch.

He said honouring those who served is an important part of their cadet program.

“A lot of them do it because they’ve seen it done in the past, they want to pay their respects and do their service… it’s to honour those that have given us our freedoms. We try and teach that to them and this is their way of giving back.”

This is the third time the cadets have stood vigil in Nanaimo.

The first was in 2019, and then again in 2022, taking a few years off due to the pandemic.

Ruel hopes to continue this tradition for as long as they can.

“We’re looking to try and do it on a yearly basis. As long as everyone will have us and no pandemics ‘knock on wood’ to delay us.”

NanaimoNewsNOW will once again live stream the entire ceremony on our website starting at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11.

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