Events
SUNDAY SEPT 14, 2025
12:00
Battle of Britain Parade
sponsored by the Battle of Britain Memorial Fund
Garden of Remembrance
Stanley Park
Vancouver, BC
15:00
Reception and Light Lunch
Billy Bishop Legion.(second floor)
1407 Laburnum Street
Vancouver, BC
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​AIR FORCE OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Since 1920
BATTLE OF BRITAIN SUNDAY PARADE & RECEPTION
SUNDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2025
1145 HOURS to 1400 HOURS
AT THE AIR FORCE GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE, STANLEY PARK
*** Dress: Blazer and tie - medals should be worn
*** Cost: No Cost
*** Parade: 1200 Hours - Parade and Memorial Service(be seated by 1145)
*** Reception: Reception at 1500 Hours(no host bar) at the Billy Bishop Legion
Light food - sandwiches, veg platter, dips, baked appetizers, sweets
NOTE THE CHANGE OF TIMING AND FORMAT OF THIS EVENT!!
To avoid various complications and high expenses, the parade has been brought forward to noon, there is no preceding Brunch, but there will he a Reception following the parade in the upstairs meeting room at the Billy Bishop Legion, 1407 Laburnum Street(near Kits Pool) at 1500 hrs.
NOTE: MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING THEIR WIVES AND/OR FRIENDS
This is the 85rd Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the 101st\ year since the formation of
the original RCAF, and the 55th consecutive observance of this special day with a local
ceremony and parade at Stanley Park to remember the fallen.
In 2011 the Air Force Officers’ Association took over the Battle of Britain Memorial
Fund and the sponsorship of the annual parade at Stanley Park. A good attendance at the
brunch will ensure that this continues as an annual event associated with the parade.
For catering purposes, please advise The Secretary(Jerry Vernon) direct by phone at (604)
420-6065 or at jevernon@telus.net by no later than Sunday, 07 Sep 25. If your plans
change, please advise The Secretary ASAP.
Note that the responsibility for this event has switched from the AFOA to the BBMF,
which makes it much easier to use and account for the Veterans’ Affairs grant and the
various donations made by individuals and several Legion and ANAVets units.
Parking details....we are still waiting to hear from the Park Board re. the parking
arrangements for the Parade in Stanley Park. If you have veterans licence plates, parking
is free at any time in City of Vancouver and Park Board lots or at steet meters. Otherwse,
we will advise you later for those without veterans’ plates. Street parking is more
difficult to find near the Billy Bishop Legion, but there is a parking lot off Arbutus
Street...free if you have veterans’ plates. Also, note that the #19 Metrotown Station
Stanley Park transit bus runs right into the park, to the bus loop adjacent to the Air
Force Garden of Remembrance.
BATTLE OF BRITAIN OBSERVANCES - 2025
For many years, prior to 1971, there was a downtown RCAF Battle of Britain Parade and March Pastassociated with Protestant and RC church parades on Battle of Britain Sunday. In 1971, the observance was moved to the Air Force Garden of Remembrance in Stanley Park, which had been built in 1948.
Twenty-four years ago, the Battle of Britain observances split into two separate events, largely due to the fact that the Air Cadet parade outgrew the space available at Stanley Park. There are over 600 Air Cadets, from all over the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast, parading at Boundary Bay, and a smaller Air Cadet contingent also parade at the Stanley Park event.
The Stanley Park service had been organized for many years by the Battle of Britain Memorial Fund and the former 802(South Burnaby) Wing of the RCAF Association. The Boundary Bay parade and service is organized by the B. C. Provincial Committee of the Air Cadet League of Canada, and sponsored by 801 (Vancouver) Squadron of the RCAF Association.
Through age-related attrition, the original organizers of the Stanley Park service had dwindled to only 2 or 3 people, and they approached the Air Force Officers’ Association with a suggestion that we take over control of the BBMF and the event. Responsibility was transferred to the AFOA in 2011, so this is now OUR event, and it is up to us to make it a success!!
Details are as follows:
Air Forces Garden of Remembrance, Stanley Park
Sunday, 14 Sep 25 - Please be seated by 1145 hrs for the pre-music as seating is limited.
Folding seats under cover will be provided for our members and guests.
Location:
Immediately adjacent to the Stanley Park Pavilion and the Stanley Park transit loop.
In conjunction with the service, there will be the usual small parade, consisting of several bands,
colour parties and Air Cadet Squadrons. Subject to weather and operational requirements, there may be a flyby of an RCAF aircraft.
This year’s Reviewing Officer will be HCol Roderick Bell-Irving, Honourary Colonel of the
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and grand-nephew of Air Commodore A. D. Bell-Irving, MC,
a former President of the AFOA and one of the founders of the Air Cadet movement in Canada.
See biography attached.
In 2025 we will be honouring the 939 RCAF and Canadian Air Force personnel who died in
the service during the Cold War period of 1949 to 1989.
Air Cadet Battle of Britain Parade and Inspection, Boundary Bay Airport
This parade has also been reformatted into an earlier time frame.
On Sunday, 28 Sep 25, there will also be the Air Cadet Battle of Britain Parade & Inspection
on Battle of Britain Sunday on the Boundary Bay Airport ramp, the former home of No. 18
Elementary Flying Training School, No. 5 Operational Training Unit and several wartime fighter
squadrons.
Members of the AFOA are invited to attend this event, which will include hundreds of Air
Cadets, a massed Air Cadet marching band, colour parties, etc. Since both events are once again not on the same Sunday, you have the opportunity to attend both parades.
The cadets fall in at 0930 hrs and the parade starts at 1000 hrs. There may be a flyby of museum
aircraft, a Harvard and a DND flyby at 0955 hrs, weather and operational requirements
permitting. The parade should be over by Noon. There will be reserved covered seating. Let the Secretary know so a seat can he reserved for you.
Lieutenant-Colonel Roderick Bell-Irving, CD, (Retired)
Roderick Bell-Irving was born on 24 July 1949 in Vancouver and is a son of the late Brigadier, the Honourable Henry Pybus Bell-Irving DSO.OBE,CD,ED,OC,OBC and the late Nancy Isobel Bell-Irving and the grand-nephew of the late Air Commadore A.D. Bell-Irving, OBE, MC after whom this Squadron is named. Upon completion of his secondary education at Shawnigan Lake School he attended the University of British Columbia where he obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marine Biology (1973).
During his school, university, and early post-graduation years he rowed and coached at the club, national and international level, winning numerous provincial and national titles and a Pan American Games Bronze Medal (1971). He was the recipient of the University of British Columbia Male Athlete of the Year Award (1973) and went on to coach a winning University crew at the Royal Henley (1976) and the 1980 Canadian Olympic Men’s
team.
After serving two years as a sea cadet with RCSCC Cougar, in January 1981 Roderick Bell-Irving continued his military service and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Between 1981 and 1988 he served as AdeC to three of BC’s Lieutenant Governor’s including his father. In 1985 he sought and obtained an attachment to the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment where, during EXERCISE RENDEZVOUS 85, he gained valuable operational and command experience. While living and working in Ottawa he served
with the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa and successfully completed The Militia Command and Staff Courseat Kingston (1989). In September 1992 he assumed command of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. He is the third member of his family to command the unit and is a recipient of the Queens Jubilee Medal (1994).
In July 1996, after being nominated for the Order of Military Merit and Commander of British Columbia District Roderick Bell-Irving transferred to the Supplemental Reserve List to focus on his family and civilian career. Throughout his 40 year civilian career Roderick Bell-Irving worked as a federal Regulator with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and as an independent consultant as a Registered Professional Biologist (RPBio). While so employed he developed, implemented, and enforced federal fish habitat protection policy, advised governments at both federal and provincial levels, and worked with First Nations, local government, executives from resource sector industries and the public. He is a recipient of a federal Minister’s Merit Award (1987) and a past member of the Vancouver Board of Trade and B.C. Chamber of Commerce.
Since retiring in 2015, Roderick Bell-Irving has continued his commitment to service within the community. He has served as Director and Officer of private companies and not for profit societies, as President of RCL Branch 160 Comox, and as an army cadet Civilian Instructor. Currently he is volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission and serving as a part time auxiliary Coroner for the Province of British Columbia.
In August of 2023 Lieutenant-Colonel Roderick Bell-Irving, CD (Ret’d) was nominated to become Honorary Colonel of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, Vancouver, BC. He is the proud father of three children and grandfather to two grandchildren.
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