By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

Michel Miraillet, Ambassador of France to Canada, attended the Quebec branch of the Last Post Fund’s biannual commemorative ceremony in honour of Canadian and Allied veterans who are buried at the National Field of Honour in Pointe-Claire last week.

Established in 1930, the National Field of Honour is the only cemetery in Canada dedicated entirely to Canadian veterans, their immediate families and veterans of Allied countries. It became a national heritage site in 2007.

Prior to the ceremony, Mr. Miraillet toured the cemetery to visit more than 22,500 graves in the National Field of Honor. Among the Canadian flags placed by the Boy Scouts of Canada at thousands of graves, 88 French flags were also placed to mark the graves of French veterans. At the special commemoration to pay tribute to those who fought side by side for peace, freedom and democracy during the Second World War on this 80th Anniversary year of D-Day, Canadian air, naval and land forces were remembered for their bravery. The guard of honour at the event included personnel serving in the Canadian military, cadets from the Royal Military College of Saint-Jean and members of the French Foreign Legion and other veterans. Sentries were posted at the cenotaph by the Canadian Grenadier Guards and a cannon salute was fired by the 3rd Field Battery of the Canadian Grenadier Artillery. n