Copper Sunday – 2015 &
Battle of Atlantic 70th Annual Ceremony
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Copper Sunday – 2015
By: WJO / Photos by: OCdt 26779 (III)Kyle Tilley
Sunday (3 May) was a nice Spring Day. So nice, Cadets had a little extra bounce to their step as they marched over the LaSalle Causeway into the city.
Of course, the occasion(s) was the longtime traditions – Copper Sunday and the Battle of Atlantic Ceremony.
What looked like the bulk of the Cadet Wing, arrived at City Hall @ 0900.
Tradition has it, that the Cadet Wing Commander knocks on the City Hall door. There to greet CWC, Zack Day were His Worship Mayor Bryan Paterson, and the RMCC commandant, BGen Al Meinzinger.
The mood was light – not sure if it was because of the weather, or the cadets were aware that most of them will be on their way from the Kingston area, within two weeks. Also, the commandant himself will be gone within three weeks. At any rate, morale appeared high!
Copper Sunday goes back 133 years (1882). Up until a few years ago, Officer Cadets attended various Kingston churches depending on their faith. Now a days – attendance at a church service is strictly voluntary
When the formal ceremony was concluded and the cadets received the Fall Out order – they either went to a church of their choice; headed towards the Battle of Atlantic Ceremony which was to take place an hour or so later; or most dispersed around town mingling with the city folks and tourist.
The majority were not back on the peninsula until around noon hour.
More Copper Sunday photos by OCdt 26779 (III)Kyle Tilley – Here
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Battle of Atlantic 70th Annual Ceremony (Photos by Denice Zoretich)
Cadets and staff from Royal Military College of Canada took part in a memorial march and service of remembrance on Sunday – 3 May. It was the 70th Annual Battle of Atlantic Ceremony which is usually scheduled for the first Sunday in May.
The service took place at the Navy Memorial Park downtown, Kingston in memory of the sailors and air force members who participated and or died in the Battle of the Atlantic.
The Battle of the Atlantic officially began in September 1939 with the sinking of the passenger ship Athena, and fighting continued in the North Atlantic until Germany was defeated in May 1945.
A large majority of the 2,000 members of the RCN who died during the war were killed during the Battle of the Atlantic, as were 752 members of the RCAF and 1,600 Merchant Navy seamen from Canada and Newfoundland.
RMCC was well represented this year.