Achi news desk-
ESQUIMALT, BC –
Princess Anne spent more than an hour on Saturday traveling to God’s Acre veterans cemetery and its small, wooden chapel, laying a wreath to honor more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
The visit to the secluded tree-lined Esquimalt, BC cemetery is part of the princess’ three-day visit to the West Coast, which began on Friday in North Vancouver with her participation in the commissioning of the Arctic patrol ship a first for Canada’s Pacific fleet, HMCS. Max Bernays.
God’s Acre is a national historic site dating back to 1868.
Princess Anne’s trip will also see her attend a memorial service on Sunday for the Battle of the Atlantic at the BC legislature.
She is also due to visit the Royal Victoria Yacht Club Sunday and members of the Therapeutic Riding Society of Victoria later in the day.
A tour of the cemetery by Princess Anne, sister of King Charles, is very important, said David Loveridge, director of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for Canada, the Americas and the Pacific.
The princess is the current president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, overseeing its mandate to look after 23,000 war memorials and war cemeteries around the world commemorating 1.7 million Commonwealth casualties, he said.
“Having her here in Canada and coming to God’s Acre veterans cemetery to lay a wreath is a great event for us to commemorate the veterans here,” said Loveridge.
Princess Anne was on board HMCS Max Bernays early on Saturday when she entered the fleet’s home base at Esquimalt Harbor to a 21-gun salute.
She was wearing a Canadian navy uniform on Saturday, including a Canadian Fleet Pacific hat.
Naval enthusiasts and royal watchers gathered on the shores of Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse to greet the ship and the princess.
“She’s a navy commodore, an honorary commodore, and she did the commission ceremony and spent the night on the boat after she left Vancouver,” said Iain MacAulay. “So, yeah, cool.”
Murray Baines said he wanted to have a look at Max Bernays HMCS and get a glimpse of the princess.
“I saw somebody out there waving,” Baines said. “I even got my little binoculars, but I couldn’t make out who it was.”
The Department of National Defense said in a statement on Friday that HMCS Max Bernays’ official presentation to the fleet included a “symbolic presentation of the ship’s keys” to the commanding officer, Commander Collin Forsberg, “along with the commissioning of the ship. pennant, and three cheers from the ship’s company.”
Forsberg told reporters before the ceremony that the patrol vessel arrived at its new home port in Esquimalt last month. He said the vessel was “designed for, primarily, the exercise of Canadian sovereignty in northern waters.”
He said the introduction of the ship, named after a Canadian naval hero in the Second World War, will allow the navy to better meet the challenges of defending the North in the future.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on May 4, 2024.
