[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

August 10, 2005

War hero backed funeral details

By TIFFANY CRAWFORD

VANCOUVER (CP) - Shortly before Canadian war hero Sgt. Ernest Alvia (Smokey) Smith died he told one of his friends organizing his funeral this weekend, "they got it right."

Smith's memorial service has been three years in the making and on Saturday, it's expected thousands of Canadians will witness the largest military procession the country has seen since the 1950s.

Smith, who was the last surviving winner of the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth's highest award for bravery, died last week at the age of 91.

"He had a twinkle in his eye and laughed and said to me, 'They got it right, Bev,' " said Bev Croft, an executive officer with Royal Canadian Legion, in remembering her conversation with Smith.

Croft urged people to come and pay their respects to a valiant man who, as a Second World War hero, played a major role in ensuring Canadians their freedom.

"Come out and be a part of history," said Croft. "Come out and show your pride for what this great man accomplished."

The military procession for the last surviving Victoria Cross recipient will begin at the Seaforth Amoury at about 10 a.m. PDT and will be broadcast live on CBC Newsworld.

Burrard Street, including the Burrard Street Bridge, in the city's downtown core will be closed as Smith's family, a band, pallbearers and military personnel from across Canada march to St. Andrews Church.

An formation of four jets will roar above the ceremony as they perform the Missing Man formation, traditionally used to mark the loss of a comrade.

"Smokey often remarked that the real heroes were the ones in the cemeteries who never had a chance to come home," Rev. Jim Short wrote in Smith's obituary, which will be read at the service.

The procession will likely attract thousands of people, a military historian said Wednesday.

"The last one of this magnitude was the one for Billy Bishop who had earned his Cross in the First World War," said Bill Rawling.

Smith earned the VC by single-handedly repelling a German counterattack on Italy's Savio River in 1944.

Since its inception in 1856, 94 Canadians have received the award given for bravery or some daring act of valour or self-sacrifice.

"It's part of our national memory," Rawling said of the procession.

"It's how we remember people who have done such great things in the past and to encourage us to do similarly in the future."

Croft said her longtime friend knew his funeral would be grand and he hoped it would help remind Canadians not to forget the war.

Organizers said the street will be decorated with bright colours and a firing squad will volley shots.

Smith's remains were flown to Ottawa on Monday, accompanied by five members of his family and 22 reservists from his regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders.

His coffin, draped in a gold-fringed Canadian flag, was flown back to Vancouver on Wednesday after it had lay in state on Parliament Hill. Among the dignitaries who paid their respects in Ottawa were Prime Minister Paul Martin and Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, who led family, friends, veterans, soldiers and citizens past the war hero.