Canada Day marked at Shornecliffe

In 2007, Canada recognised Folkestone with an award to mark the almost 90 years of uninterrupted Canada Day Remembrances held at Shorncliffe, presenting 2007 Mayor Peter Gane with a framed citation and medal.

This years Canada Day service was held on 1st July. A procession walked from the barracks to the Shornecliffe Military Cemetery, where a short service was read and local children placed flowers on the graves of soldiers buried at Shorncliffe. Leading the procession was Folkestone Mayor Peter Gane, and the service was attended by civic dignitaries, councillors from Folkestone & Sandgate, military personnel, representatives of ex-service organisations and children from several Folkestone schools.

Traditionally held on 1 July or the first working day afterwards, Canada Day is a Bank Holiday in Canada, and is marked in Folkestone by a service at the Shornecliffe Military Cemetery.

During the First World War a number of Canadian military establishments were centred on Shorncliffe. There were camps and a Machine Gun School which were served by the Shorncliffe Military Hospital (later No. 9 Canadian General), the Moore Barracks Military Hospital (later No. 11 Canadian General), and other Canadian hospitals. The Canadian Army Medical Corps Training Depot was at or near Shorncliffe during almost the whole of the war. On three occasions Canadian soldiers were killed during air raids on Shorncliffe. Shorncliffe Military Cemetery contains 471 First World War burials. [Source: http://ww1cemeteries.com]

The Remembrance Service is in commemoration of the 296 Canadian soldiers who died in combat during the First World War and who are buried in the Shorncliffe Military Cemetery, and is marked not just by a service, but also the practice of local primary school children attending and taking part, laying their own floral tributes on the graves of the soldiers.