On Saturday, November 5, 2022 members of the 2nd Cottam Scouting Scout Troop were joined by naval reservists and Ford Motor Company Veterans as they set out to clean the crosses marking the graves of First and Second World War soldiers as well as the Epitaph at Cottam’s Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery.
The idea for this event started between Sgt Roger Mercer, CPO2 in the HCMS Hunter Naval Reserve and a retired military veteran with 20 years’ service in the Canadian Armed Forces, and Cottam Scout Leader, Dan Ireland, who is also an employee of the Ford Motor Company in Windsor.
Ireland had invited Sgt Mercer to a Remembrance Day service with his Troop in 2020. Mercer mentioned he had heard of the initiative in the past and wondered if the Troop would be interested in supporting this worthy cause. Mercer then wrote to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission located in Ottawa.
CWGC is responsible for commemorating 1.7 million servicemen and servicewomen who died during the First and Second World Wars while serving with Commonwealth forces. CWGC cares for the upkeep and maintenance of the CWGC markers and memorials on behalf of Veterans Affairs Canada.
Upon receiving approval to clean the crosses, Sgt. Mercer confirmed with Ireland and it was agreed that HMCS Hunter and the Scouts would work together on November 5 cleaning the crosses at the cemetery. Members of the local Ford Veterans Group from the Windsor Ford Motor Company were also invited to participate.
On November 5, the teams assembled at the cemetery with cleaning equipment in hand. The instructions for cleaning the markers received from CWGC were quite specific and were issued with the intent of protecting the markers from any damage.
With work completed, the markers are now clean and ready for the upcoming Remembrance Day ceremonies.
The Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery can be found at 235 County Rd 34 in Cottam, Ontario.