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WATCH: Hundreds gather in Sidney streets for Remembrance Day ceremony

Parade of Veterans led to cenotaph outside Town Hall for moment of silence, wreath laying
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Hundreds gathered in front of Sidney Town Hall for Remembrance Day ceremonies Sunday morning. (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)

Lest We Forget.

One hundred years after the end of the First World War, hundreds of people gathered in Sidney to pay their respects to those who have served in the Canadian Armed Forces over the course of the last century.

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Beginning with the Parade of Veterans along Beacon Avenue, the public lined the town’s sidewalks as members of the CAF, RCMP, 676 Kitty Hawk Sidney Air Cadets and others wound their way to the cenotaph at Sidney Town Hall.

Led by Town Crier Kenny Podmore, the official ceremony began at 10:50 a.m. and included a flypast, two minutes of silence and a wreath laying.

As well, following the national anthem and renditions of “God Save The Queen” and “Taps” the John McCrae poem In Flanders Fields was recited before a crowd of hundreds gathered along Sidney Avenue and across the front lawn of Town Hall.

“We gather here to pay tribute to those who gave the supreme sacrifice in the past and present wars and conflicts,” Podmore said.

A second ceremony is planned for 4:30 p.m. at the cenotaph to ring 100 bells marking the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, emulating the moment in 1918 when church bells across Europe tolled the end of four years of war.

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Bells will ring across Canada, at Parliament Hill as well as city halls, places of worship, military bases and on naval vessels.

The public is invited to attend the Bells of Peace Commemorative Ceremony at 4:30 p.m. at Sidney Town Hall (2440 Sidney Avenue).

Scroll down to see photos from the ceremony at Sidney Town Hall:

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Remembrance Day ceremonies in Sidney began with the annual parade down Beacon Avenue. (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)
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Sidney Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith lays a wreath at the cenotaph outside Town Hall with North Saanich Mayor Geoff Orr. (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)
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A woman pays her respects during Remembrance Day ceremonies outside Sidney Town Hall, Nov. 11. (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)
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Generations participated in Remembrance Day ceremonies outside Sidney Town Hall, Nov. 11 (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)
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Federal Green Party leader and Saanich-Gulf Island MP Elizabeth May pays her respects after laying a wreath at the cenotaph outside Sidney Town Hall. (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)
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Those in attendance salute veterans past and present during Remembrance Day ceremonies at Sidney Town Hall, Nov. 11, 2018. (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)
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Generations of those who have served in the name of Canada pay their respects during Remembrance Day ceremonies in Sidney, Nov. 11, 2018. (Kristyn Anthony/News staff)