Saturday (April 12) was a picture perfect, spring day for a parade as the City of Richmond conveyed Freedom of the City to the newly-created 39 Service Battalion of the Canadian Armed Forces at city hall. The honour is traditionally granted to military units based in a community and dates back to the 17th century in Edinburgh, Scotland and provides ceremonial permission for military units to parade through the city.
The 39 Service Battalion, part of the 39 Canadian Brigade Group of the Canadian Armed Forces, is a newly-created unit, which will be headquartered out of the Colonel Sherman Armoury in Richmond. It was created through amalgamation of the 12 Service Battalion, based in Richmond, the 11 Service Battalion from Vancouver Island and the reorganized Chilliwack Detachment.
