Trail of the Caribou Pilgrimage Concludes in Europe

The province’s annual pilgrimage to Europe to honour the valiant efforts of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians during the First World War concluded today with a ceremony at the Caribou Monument in Courtrai, Belgium. The Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, was joined by veterans, members of the Royal Canadian Legion, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and youth delegates from all over Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Over the last several days, it has been a true honour to pay tribute to the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who answered the call to war almost 100 years ago,” said Premier Dunderdale. “At each of the stops along our pilgrimage, we have laid a wreath in their memory and called for a renewed sense of commitment to remember. We will continue to pay tribute to those who died to secure freedom for others, as we certainly owe them our attention and admiration for their sacrifice.”

Beginning with a ceremony at Beaumont-Hamel on July 1, the Premier visited and laid wreaths at each of the five monuments along the Trail of Caribou in Europe: Beaumont-Hamel, Gueudecourt, Monchy-le-Preux, and Masnières in France, as well as Courtrai in Belgium.

“At each of the monument sites, you can almost feel the presence of the brave young men who paid such a dear price to help ensure the freedoms we take for granted today,” said Premier Dunderdale. “It is important that we continue to cherish and hold sacred the sacrifice of those who served, who fought and died, and who rest here in the fields of Europe and at home.”

Last evening, Premier Dunderdale laid a wreath at the Menin Gate Monument in Ieper, Belgium. The monument is one of four British and Commonwealth memorials to the missing in the battlefield area of the Ypres Salient in Belgian Flanders. It bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men from United Kingdom and Commonwealth Forces who fell before August 1917 and who have no known grave.

- 30 -

Media contacts:

2013 07 04                   11:45 a.m.