The Alberta Vigil The vigil will take place at the Alberta Legislature. As with every vigil, it runs for seven nights, starting at 5:00pm each evening. The first name appears at 5:15pm. Each night’s vigil will be 13 hours long, ending at sunrise the following day. The vigil will then recommence at 5:00pm and run another 13 hours. The last name will appear as dawn breaks on November 11th.

The Names The vigil will commence in Edmonton November 4th 2008. More than 9,700 names will appear each night. Each individual name will appear only once during the seven nights. The names include those killed in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Canadian Merchant Navy and the Canadian Army Medical Corps. The names appear in the same sequence in each vigil location.

The Alberta Vigil There were 6,140 Albertans killed in WWI. The Legislature Rotunda has several Regimental and King's Colours of units mobilised, raised and sent to the UK and Europe for service in World War I.

The South Alberta Light Horse, a Reserve Army regiment, perpetuates many infantry, artillery and cavalry units that were raised throughout Alberta for service in WWI. Other Alberta-raised battalions who fought in WWI are today represented by the King's Own Calgary Regiment, the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and the Calgary Highlanders. Albertans also joined many other Canadian regiments like the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the Lord Strathcona's Horse and units that supported the Canadian Expeditionary Force at home, in the UK and at the front in Europe.

The Alberta Vigil is an initiative funded by The South Alberta Light Horse Regiment Foundation which is chaired by Edmontonian Stanley Milner, OC, AOE, CD, LL.D and is done with the support of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly the Hon Ken Kowalski and with the assistance of the Government of Alberta particularly Premier Hon. Ed Stelmach; Minister of Culture and Community Spirit the Hon. Lindsay Blackett and the Minister of Infrastructure the Hon. Jack Hayden.

Today, within its borders, Alberta has a major presence, both regular and reserve, of the Canadian Forces. They are actively engaged in training and Canada’s operations at home and abroad, notably in Afghanistan.

Searching The Names To find the exact night and time when a specific name will appear, use the Search Names tab located at the top of this page. The names appearing in the vigil will have no order or ranking. Each man or woman was equal in death.

Vigil Locations This vigil is also taking place in other Canadian cities and in London, England. You can access these vigils by using the Time Zones, Ottawa or London tabs located above. We encourage you to attend in person or to view the simultaneous vigil presentations created on each region’s webpage.

Time Zones This vigil is being presented across 9 time zones. Bear in mind the time difference when viewing a vigil online in another region. For example, the Edmonton Vigil will start 8 hours after the London, England vigil and 2 hours after the Halifax Vigil. But wherever you live, the vigil will commence at 5:00pm local time.

Educational Opportunities The History Society is helping to organize local schools and community groups to animate all of the vigil sites. If interested in participating in the vigil go to www.historysociety.ca. Teachers are encouraged to explore the educational resources available for classes at the website.

Memory is what makes us human.