06/02/2026
Today is Decoration Day in Canada. This was the country's main day of honouring and mourning veterans until being superseded by Remembrance Day in the 1930s. Decoration Day had been started in 1890 by veterans of the Fenian Raids, specifically marking the Battle of Ridgeway, which took place on June 2, 1866.
This photo shows a Decoration Day ceremony held in St. Catharines in 1939. Though the holiday's significance was already fading by this time, it received a temporary boost due to the impending war in Europe. Tensions with Germany, combined with King George VI's scheduled Canadian visit less than a week later, had inspired a local air of patriotism and duty.
S1939.48.4.1