Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough

USPA NEWS - Cars lined Highway 102 as far as one could see on the evening of Monday, May 11th, as a motorcade escorted the remains of Sub.-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough home. The 23-year-old was one of six Canadian Armed Forces killed, on April 29th, when their CH-148 Cyclone helicopter assigned to HMCS Fredericton crashed into the Ionian Sea off the coast of Greece.

The procession started at the Halifax Stanfield Airport, where Cowbrough's remains arrived home in Nova Scotia after a repatriation ceremony held Wednesday, May 6th, at 8 Wing CFB Trenton in Ontario. It was to continue down the Highway of Heroes, as the route became known after the remains of Canadian soldiers slain overseas upon their return home. Today's final pilgrimage home was led by police with flashing lights and followed by hundreds of motorcycles, Canadian Armed Forces members, police, and firefighters. Hundreds of Nova Scotians gathered along the motorcade route to show support and gratitude to the family of the fallen soldier and first responders could be seen along the roadside and on the overpasses saluting as the hearse passed by.

Upon arrival in Halifax, the motorcade made its way to HMC Dockyard, along the Halifax waterfront, which is the home port of the HMCS Fredericton and the Royal Canadian Navy's Atlantic fleet. Before leaving the Dockyard, the precession followed Valour Road and then departed for a Dartmouth funeral home where they would be greeted by a band of bagpipers. A fitting tribute to Sub.-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough who was a bagpiper and her bagpipes are now silent.

As previously reported, Sub.-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough was one of 6 Canadian Forces Officers killed in the Cyclone helicopter crash off the coast of Greece and her remains were the first to be recovered and identified. In a media release from the Department of National Defence we are being told that the partial remains of another crew member have now been identified using DNA testing. They are the remains of Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald, one of two pilots on the Cyclone CH-148 helicopter. His remains were identified by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario on Saturday, May 19th. Still missing and presumed dead are Sub-Lit. Matthew Pyke, Capt. Kevin Hagen, pilot, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, and Master Corp. Matthew Cousins.