The final day of the Walk for Remembrance and Peace takes place at the Canadian War Cemetery in Agira.
While the War Graves Commission and foreign governments take care of the cemeteries in which our fallen lie, the memory of the sacrifice of our soldiers is being lost among new generations of children who have benefited from the stability of peace and never experienced the horrors of war.
The cost of visits to foreign cemeteries and battlefields is a significant barrier to the involvement of Canadians in remembrance activities at foreign sites. The Walk for Remembrance and Peace is significant in breaking those barriers to allow the younger and older generations to remember our world at war, and rejoice in the peace that we enjoy.
The Agira Canadian War Cemetery is located on a small hill in the Commune of Agira and the Province of Enna, in the heart of Sicily, approximately 70 kilometres from Catania.
After the Sicilian campaign, the decision was made to concentrate into one cemetery the graves of all Canadians who gave their lives in the island fighting, and in September of 1943 Canadian officers chose the site at Agira. It contains the graves of 490 Canadians (13 members of the RCAFand 477 of the army), six of whom are unidentified. It should be remembered, a number of war dead have graves which are unknown (including 58 Canadians who drowned when convoys were attacked en route to Sicily). Their names are commemorated on the Cassino Memorial in mainland Italy. In all, it is estimated that 562 Canadians died as a result of this campaign.
The Cemetery can be located at Contrada Pennino Buterno 2 94011 Agira
