‘Why we do it’: More than 100 volunteers lay flags at soldiers’ graves in Kingston

KINGSTON – On a chilly November morning, more than 100 volunteers began arriving at a historic cemetery in Kingston, Ont., to help honour soldiers who are buried there.

Some came with family members, others were joined by friends and strangers, forming small groups that scattered across the civilian side of the sprawling Cataraqui Cemetery in search of specific grave markers. 

Each group was handed a list of names, a map of the cemetery, a pen and a bundle of Canadian flags last Thursday. Their mission was to find the graves of those who served in the Canadian Armed Forces and lay flags along their tombstones to honour their service ahead of Remembrance Day.

Around 1,500 soldiers are buried at the cemetery, 800 of them among civilians and 700 at the section dedicated for military personnel.

Remembering them is “very important,” said Dave Donovan, chair of the Remembrance Veterans Committee that organizes the flag-placing effort. 

Donovan has been a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association for over four decades and his son served in the Royal Canadian Navy, he said. That strong military connection is why he has been organizing such events since 1999. 

Even during the pandemic, he and other members of the committee didn’t stop laying flags along the graves.

“We didn’t forget the veterans. We couldn’t do the whole cemetery, but our committee did the military plot during COVID,” he said.

Donovan said he felt “absolutely great” about Thursday’s volunteer turnout. 

“We had to turn four or five people away because we had a little bit too many people, but I mean that is a good problem,” he said. More than 100 students were scheduled to visit the military side of the cemetery on Monday to continue the ritual.

Finding the grave of each soldier on the civilian side wasn’t an easy task. Volunteers had to check every tombstone to read the description or look for military emblems as they criss-crossed the cemetery. A thick layer of colourful leaves that fell from the trees and overgrown grass made the search even more difficult to find tombstones that lay flat. 

But the volunteers were committed to keep searching until they found the final resting place of each soldier. 

“I found one,” shouted Robert Gibson, raising his hand as group member Bill Anderson placed a check mark next to the soldier’s name on their list. 

Gibson said he volunteered for the event to honour his grandfather, who served in the Second World War.

Even though his grandfather wasn’t buried in Kingston, Gibson wanted to be part of Thursday’s commemoration to make sure that veterans are “remembered for the service that they provided in both world wars and other conflicts.”

But he also had another reason to be there. 

“I meet different people each time I come … it’s also a good experience to connect with people that I might not have otherwise met,” Gibson said. 

Anderson said he was there because of his two sons who are serving in the military, one in Kingston and the other in Alberta.

“You really can see a lot here and it’s time to reflect too and honour our fathers and aunts and uncles and all that served our country,” he said. 

Anderson said he has been part of the commemoration for nearly a decade, except for a few years of pandemic disruption.  

“It’s nice to see them back doing this again,” he said. 

His friend Glenn Holland, who also comes from a military family, was the third member of the group. 

Holland’s grandfather fought in the Second World War and the Korean War, and his father served in several peacekeeping missions around the world and was deployed to Germany as part of NATO forces stationed there during the Cold War. 

His son also followed their footsteps and joined the military, Holland said. 

“It’s respectful to come out and remember the people that did give service,” he said. “I’m putting the flags on the headstones where the vets are buried so that people will be able to recognize that there’s someone that served our country.”

Established in 1850, Cataraqui Cemetery is the final resting place of soldiers who fought in pre-Confederation wars, the two world wars, as well as conflicts in Korea and Afghanistan.

The famed Canadian pilot Leonard J. Birchall, whom former British prime minister Winston Churchill named the “Savior of Ceylon” – now known as Sri Lanka – is also buried at the cemetery. Birchall spent several years in captivity when his plane was shot down after he alerted the Allied forces of the advancing Japanese forces, a move that potentially saved Sri Lanka, according to Veterans Affairs Canada. 

Michael Lea, a former journalist whose father was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, said he used to cover the flag-placing event for a local newspaper, and he became directly involved after he retired. 

“It’s a huge area and so each year we invite people from the community to come and get a list of these military graves,” he said. 

“So, they can wander up and down the cemetery plot lines and find these military graves and place a Canadian flag on them just as a way of saying, ‘Thank you for your service.’”

Ten uniformed members of the Royal Canadian Air Force were also among the attendees on Thursday, said Maj. Heather Murdoch from Kingston-based 1 Wing.

She said her unit will take part in a military parade Tuesday on Remembrance Day and also attend Monday’s event with schoolchildren at the cemetery. 

“But this is just that extra moment where we can come out and take a moment to lay flags at our fallen comrades,” she said. 

“If you don’t remember, history repeats itself. So, it’s important to remember why we do it and what we’re doing to move forward.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2025.