Orders of Service

The Decoration Day service in Manitou, Manitoba, had been started by the local branch of the Great War Veterans Association, and was carried on by its successor, the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League.

This memorial service was held to honour the men of the 1st Brigade who were killed in Canada's first major battle of the Great War. In the coming years, the number of casualties would make it impossible to hold such formal services after every battle.

Even small towns felt the effects of the world wars. The Canadian Legion branch in Bridgetown, Nova Scotia, held its annual memorial ceremony on 24 June 1951 to place wreaths on veterans' graves and on the Memorial Cross.

Just a few months after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War, the citizens of Hamilton, Ontario, assembled to give thanks on the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the war.

The 34th Battalion had been raised in Guelph, Ontario, and in 1933 brought its wartime chaplain back to officiate at a memorial service.

Sold at $1 per hundred, this leaflet provided a standard service that could be used by any of the Protestant denominations to mark the end of the Second World War.

This Royal Canadian Navy Draft Depot in Halifax, Nova Scotia, held a church service to mark the German surrender in May 1945.

Gilbert Thomas of Lucknow, Ontario, died of disease not long after he enlisted in the 5th University Company, and his body was brought home for burial.

Services such as this one were intended to ensure that children understood the meaning and significance of the First World War in its religious context.

This order of service for use in military training camps began with the exhortation "All are requested to join heartily in the Prayers, Psalm, Creed and Hymns."