The First World War was fought from 1914 to 1918 and was the bloodiest war the world had ever seen up to that time.
After the outbreak of the war, the fighting in France and Belgium soon turned into a stalemate of trench fighting.
Commanding Officer of the Hastings Prince Edward Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Comeau, spoke to Quinte News about the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice, November 11, 1918.
The Quinte area sent thousands of men, with their horses, to the battlefields.
Comeau says, “The Canadian militia in the Quinte region was formed by using several numbered battalions, which was commonplace during World War One. So, the Hastings Prince Edward Regiment had soldiers from the 39th, the 80th, the 136th, the 156th, the 254th, as well as the 21st and 77th battalions, and surprisingly enough the First Forestry Battalion… each had 800 to 1,000 men. All generated from the Quinte region.”
Comeau says Canadian troops showed their “true mettle” leading up to the end of war.
Comeau says this Sunday also has other significance for Canadians.
The Belleville Veterans’ Council will have a Parkhurst bus at the Belleville Armouries at 10 a.m. on Sunday to transport participants to the Cenotaph for the Remembrance Day ceremony. The bus will leave at 10:15 a.m.
800 CJBQ will broadcast live from the Remembrance Day ceremony at Belleville Cenotaph, beginning just before 11 a.m. on Sunday.
