Ten forgotten Abbotsford veterans were honored during a Saturday evening ceremony to remember the battle of Vimy Ridge
A crowd of more than 400 people was told recent research has found the names of 10 veterans who do not appear on the Abbotsford cenotaph.
Overlooked for 100 years, the 10 were identified as Pte. Ellsworth Albert Chapman, Pte. James McDonald, Pte. George Knox, Pte. Osmond Kidwell, Second Lte. Langley Latton Attwood, Sgt. Arthur John Witchell, Pte. Percy Farr, Pte. Antonio Donatelli, Pte. Norton Carter and Sgt.Murdock Gillis.
Candles were lit and placed on the base of the cenotaph for the 10, along with 90 other candles to honour the memory of fallen Canadian soldiers.
It was the sixth year of the candlelight ceremony in Abbotsford, which was inspired by the annual event in the Netherlands when candles are lit to remember the Canadians who fought and died to liberate the Dutch from German occupation.
This year’s event was timed to coincide with Vimy Ridge Day, which honours the soldiers who fought and won the Battle of Vimy Ridge against the Germans in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France from April 9 to April 12, 91.
The battle was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together and is said to be the moment when Canada stopped being a colony of Great Britain and became a nation.
It cost the lives of 3,600 Canadian soldiers and wounded more than 7,000.
