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Surrey Centre Cemetery hosts Remembrance Day event with WWII military vehicles

Military experts will also be on hand to answer questions during an afternoon of remembrance and reflection.
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Veterans Memorial at Surrey Centre Cemetery.

On Remembrance Day, join military experts and an array of vintage military vehicles from the Second World War era onwards at Surrey Centre Cemetery for an afternoon of remembrance and reflection.

Surrey Cemetery Services and the Canadian Military Education Centre have joined forces for the family-oriented event, running from noon to 3 p.m. at Surrey Centre Cemetery (16671 Old McLellan Road), home to 500 historic and contemporary graves of veterans. There will be an opportunity to place poppies on the graves.

Among the hardware on site for the day will be a World War II BMW motorcycle sidecar, a 1.5-ton troop carrier truck, a Dodge command car, 17-pounder Howitzer and a two-piece transport truck. The military experts will be on hand to answer questions, plus snacks and hot chocolate.

Surrey Remembers

The public is also invited to attend Surrey Remembers at the Surrey Museum and Archives, before and after the official ceremony at the Cloverdale Cenotaph, starting at 10:25 a.m.

After the service and ceremony, warm up inside the museum (17710 56A Ave.) and the archives by writing postcards to veterans and their families, watch World War II documentary videos and slides, listen to live music, enjoy children’s crafts and nosh on some hot chocolate and cookies.

Former Royal Canadian Navy Wren Gwen Settle shares Cold War secrets from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the museum, where she’ll also describe the challenges faced by women in naval service in the early 1960s.

Across the plaza at the Surrey Archives (17671 56 Avenue), warm up with refreshments, then head to the reference room.

See wartime newspapers, documents, and photographs. There will also be a slideshow on experiences in Surrey during the First World War.

More than 700 men from Surrey signed up for military service at the outbreak of the First World War. Nearly one in 10 didn’t return.

Visitors to the archives can also hear the voices of local veterans at the Oral History station.

Both events are drop in, by donation. In 2015, admission is sponsored by the Friends of the Surrey Museum and Archives Society.

For more information, see surrey.ca/events.