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Vimy Ridge ceremony Saturday

The 3064 Rocky Mountain Ranger Army Cadets will be holding a memorial service Saturday.

The 3064 Rocky Mountain Ranger Army Cadets will be holding a memorial service Saturday to commemorate the 99th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge during the First World War.

Joining the cadets will be members of the Williams Lake RCMP, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 139, and local veterans, Lieutenant Bill Sheridan said.

“The general public is encouraged to come and watch and pay their respects,” Sheridan said.

The ceremony takes place at 2 p.m. starting with a parade from behind the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex to the Cenotaph at City Hall via Borland Street.

Cadets, RCMP, and veterans will each lay a wreath at the Cenotaph then march back to the Cariboo Memorial Complex.

Road closures will be in effect from 2 to 3 p.m. for Seventh Avenue from the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex to Borland Street, along Borland to Fourth Avenue, and along Fourth Avenue, from Borland Street to city hall.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge April 9, 1917 pitted the entire Canadian army against a more experienced German army, Sheridan said.

The Canadians captured the ridge and the town of Vimy in their first attempt; something neither the British nor the French could do, Sheridan said.

City council has proclaimed April 9, 2016, Vimy Ridge Memorial Day in Williams Lake with flags at half-mast at city hall and other city buildings.