Crowds gather in New Brunswick for Remembrance Day ceremonies

Thousands of people honoured the country’s war dead during Remembrance Day ceremonies held on Friday in towns and cities across Atlantic Canada.

Gun salutes could be heard splitting the air in many other communities, including in Fredericton, where people gathered at New Brunswick’s provincial cenotaph to honour the fallen.

Seven-year-old Caelin Milley rocked on his tippy toes as he waited in anticipation of shaking the hand of Angus Hamilton, a 100-year-old veteran who served in Southeast Asia with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.

“He’s been waiting patiently to meet you,” Caelin’s mother, Heather, told Hamilton.

“It’s an honour to meet you,” she said. “Thank you for your service.”

Hamilton smiled and extended his hand to the little boy.

“Thank you,” Caelin said, looking at the vet.

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Hamilton, who served as a radar technician, said he spent most of his time at war in Kolkata, India, which was the main logistics base for the war theatre in Burma, now called Myanmar.

Hamilton wanted to be a pilot, but his poor eyesight prevented him from taking to the skies. He didn’t see much action during the Second World War and didn’t feel much at risk, he said.

“The Japanese had bombed Kolkata, and the (Royal Air Force) sent half a squadron from the Middle East to Kolkata,” Hamilton said in an interview.

2:23 100-year-old WWII veteran honoured at New Brunswick ceremony

“The first night they were there, a pilot was sent up and the radar positioned them properly. And the airborne worked. He was able to zero in and get in a good position behind the Japanese bombers and he got three of them in four minutes.”

“So that was a highlight. I didn’t do it but it was a squadron that I was connected with.”

Hamilton said he was repatriated with a large draft that left Mumbai and was in the United Kingdom for VE-Day in May 1945.

He said the war gave him malaria — twice — and friends for life.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2022.