A CANADIAN branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL), which is twinned with a branch here in Teignbridge, recently commemorated several British servicemen who are buried oversees.
Twinned with Newton Abbot RBL, the Royal Canadian Legion branch in Medicine Hat conducts a ‘Decoration Day’ service on the first weekend in June each year.
There are some hundred graves of British servicemen, who were killed while training in Canada during the Second World War, at Medicine Hat.
![Decoration Day in Newton Abbot](https://www.dawlish-today.co.uk/tindle-static/image/2024/06/17/11/10/Decoration_Day_in_Newton_Abbot_.jpg?trim=105,0,46,0&width=669&height=445&crop=669:445)
![Decoration Day in Newton Abbot](https://www.dawlish-today.co.uk/tindle-static/image/2024/06/17/11/47/Decoration_Day_in_Newton_Abbot_.jpg?trim=45,0,45,0&width=669&height=445&crop=669:445)
The ceremony sees the headstones cleaned and poppies placed on all except the front two rows of headstones - a short remembrance service was then conducted on June 2 by officers of the Royal Canadian Legion, other allied organisations and civil dignitaries of various sorts.
In light of this, the Newton Abbot branch feels it should reciprocate the ceremony and conduct a similar one at Wolborough Cemetery, where there are twenty-eight Commonwealth War Graves, including three Canadians.
![Decoration Day in Newton Abbot](https://www.dawlish-today.co.uk/tindle-static/image/2024/06/17/11/33/Decoration_Day_in_Newton_Abbot_.jpg?trim=115,0,37,0&width=669&height=445&crop=669:445)