Lancaster bomber veterans to reunite on Remembrance Day in Hamilton

There are about a dozen surviving Royal Canadian Air Force veterans who flew as aircrew for the Lancaster bomber in the Second World War, and on Remembrance Day seven of them will be together in Hamilton at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

The museum is the home of Canada's Lancaster — one of two airworthy examples of the bomber in the world. 

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It could be one of the last times such a reunion is possible.

"This opportunity's not going to lend itself for very much longer," said Ed Mizzi, one of the reunion organizers.

​The veterans' reunion will be a focus of the Remembrance Day ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the museum.

Wilfred Boyce, 93, of Toronto is one of the veterans visiting Hamilton on Tuesday. He hasn't been in an airworthy Lancaster since the end of the war, said his son, Roger Boyce.

"It's a big deal for him," Roger Boyce said. 

Boyce's family will join him Tuesday at the ceremony, as will family members from many of the other veterans. They're scheduled for a "traditional airman's breakfast" at 6 a.m. 

"One of the items is beans, that's all I know," Mizzi said.

A hearty breakfast will come in useful before a busy, possibly emotional morning as the men visit the familiar plane.