Under overcast skies, thousands attended this year's Remembrance Day parade in Sidney.
The parade, headed by the Saanich Peninsula Pipe Band, together with the 443 Squadron and 78 Fraser Highlanders, left Mary Winspear Centre and marched through a crowd-filled Beacon Avenue at 10:25 a.m.
The 54th edition of the Remembrance Day ceremony was held at the Cenotaph War Memorial outside the municipal hall where Legion Branch 37 1st vice-president Richard Coles hosted the memorial tribute.
The solemn ceremony started with the singing of O Canada, followed by the Honour Patrol roll call and The Commendation that cited the men and their path of duty and self-sacrifice, giving up their lives so others might live in freedom.
At exactly 11 a.m. the entire stretch from Second to Fifth streets fell silent; the sound of the 443 Maritime Helicopter filling the air as it flew directly above the cenotaph.
The mournful sound of the bugle playing The Last Post and the bell tolling with the names of each of those who died in the First and Second World Wars, brought some to tears including Sidney resident Kim Anderson.
"I'm just thinking about all the sacrifices that were made. I think often of moms who had multiple kids who went off to war and some came back and some didn't. Oh my God, I just can't even imagine that," she said.
