RAF & Allied Forces Service

This morning we left Dale & Lauren's just before 9am to travel to Plymouth for the Royal Air Force and Allied Forces Service Keith was asked to lay a Canadian wreath at. We arrived around 10:30am and were greeted by so many friendly people. Keith was like a celebrity or royalty! It was crazy! As soon as the people/vets saw his Canadian insignia on his uniform, they were introducing themselves and it seemed each of them had a story about Canada to tell us. When Keith would mention he was from Halifax, many spoke about the Halifax British Bomber used in the Second World War. We also met a lady and her husband who are 81, and 84 respectively who just had their 60th wedding anniversary and both were involved in WWII. She even showed us a picture from her wallet of the two of them dressed in uniform in the 1940's. Wow. This lady ran a mile last year to raise money for a cause and plays rugby with her grandchildren. What a lady!

Two members of local parliament also introduced themselves as they wanted to be friendly with the Canadian representative and tell us about their journey to Halifax a few weeks prior to meet with the big wigs in Finance. Did I mention I'm not a fan of politicians? They just eminate a sneaky, I'm being nice to you to get a vote feel. The organizer of the service, Doug Taylor who is probably retired military drug us around introduing us to people and bought us coffee and bisquits. He seemed to really feel the need to entertain and host us. He even wore a tattered Labatt Blue hat! As he pointed this out to us I giggled as it seemed he wore it for Keith's benefit. We also met British Air Marshal Stephen Dalton who I later learned was a General. Holy cow! I knew he was of a higher rank, but I was guessing Colonel - I felt very low on the totem pole after that.

The service was very similar to Remembrance Day as it is an annual service of commemoration and thanksgiving. There were representatives from various countries - Norway, France, South Africa, and of course a Yank. We met the Norway and France reps. Most of these people represent their country as a Military/Defence Attaché. I even laid flowers during the service, as one of the lady organizers who met us handed them to me and I was the last to lay. It was very neat because as I approached the memorial the band and parade were doing their close and I was in the middle of it all. Afterwards, Keith was a celebrity again with a few people taking his picture and more wanting to meet him.

I forgot to ask someone to take our picture with my camera, so this is all we got. It was a fantastic day...even though it rained during the service and they had issues with their sound system. Definitely a humbling experience.

On the drive home (2 hours) we grabbed some food at The Norway Inn, a pub just outside Truro. I had fish and chips and I swear they servied me the whole cod, it took up almost the whole plate. Good food and a place to return to for sure.