Canadian Army Reservists from 31 Canadian Engineering Regiment will be rehearsing for their internment of the colours for the 91st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force and the 1st Battalion Elgin Regiment on Sunday.
Participating soldiers will march from the Armoury in St. Thomas to the St. Thomas Cemetery, where they will conduct a military salute, and back to the Armoury.
The Armed Forces are assuring members of the public that there will be no live ammunition used during the ceremony. Soldiers will be carrying weapons with blank ammunition, and fixed bayonets.
Normally, colours are laid up to disintegrate, which is a ceremony that sees the colours left to decay on their pike or lance until they cease to exist. Since they were taken down to relocate, after the closure of Trinity Anglican, they have deteriorated to a state that they can no longer be laid up.
The most honourable alternate option is to cremate them and inter the ashes in an unmarked grave. They will be laid to rest in the same cemetery as the Commanding Officer of the 91st Battalion and the Honourary Lieutenant-Colonel for the 1st Battalion.
Members of the public may attend the ceremony but are asked to take extra caution when approaching military members and reduce speed when passing troops.