Six men from Richmond lost their lives in the Second World War’s Italian campaign, which lasted from 1943 to 1945 and in which Canada played a crucial role.
About 5,300 Canadians died in the Italian campaign out of a toal of 93,000 troops who served there.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Italian campaign, and the Friends of the Richmond Archives posted a photo of the temporary grave marker of one Richmond man, Ernest Edward Edgington, who died there.
The marker was at the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery in Italy.
The other Richmond men who died in the Italian campaign were John Reginald Forsyth, Russell Bowyer Foster, Louis Pete Gamba, Neal Findlay McLeod, Hugh John Nelson and Edgar Joseph Shields.
The Italian campaign began in July 1943 when Canadians helped capture Sicily. In September, they were involved in capture of the mainland of Italy, but continued to face heavy resistance from the Germans.
In December, Canadians captured the port of Ortona on the Adriatic in what’s described by the Canadian War Museum as a “ferocious house-to-house battle.”
The Remembrance Day service at the cenotaph at Richmond City Hall begins at 10:40 a.m., but the parade already starts at 10:20 a.m. at 11 a.m. there will be two minutes of silence followed by wreath laying.
There are road closures in effect around the cenotaph.
For more information, go to Richmond.Ca./Remember.
