Iqaluit (May 16/05) - Bagpipes wailed beneath an overcast sky as Iqaluit residents gathered at the Legion on Saturday, May 7, to commemorate the end of the Second World War in Europe 60 years ago.

Rev. Mike Gardener spoke of growing up a few hours outside London, England, and listening to the sound of bombs exploding in the distance as he crouched in a shelter in his family's back yard. It wasn't until many years later that he realized just how horrible the war was, he said.

"We didn't realize the great cost," he said.

For Legion vice-president Clark Wolfe, who served in the Canadian Navy for 10 years, the day is important so that younger generations don't forget the sacrifices those who died in past wars made.

"The vets are few and far between," he said.

Commissioner Ann Hanson managed to end her speech inside the Legion later on a humourous point, describing how her husband's father served overseas in Belgium during the war.

One day he was asked to retrieve a telegram.

"There was elation. The paper said simply, 'The war is over.'"

That paper was kept for many years by the elder Hanson, until one day his children scribbled over it with crayons. "It was ruined."