On 26 July, the day of the ceremony, pilgrims spent the morning and early afternoon exploring the landscape of the memorial park before congregating at the monument. For the ceremony, sailors from HMCS "Saguenay" provided the guard of honour. Also present were The Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Band, French army engineers, and French-Moroccan cavalry who had fought on the site during the Second Battle of Artois. The ceremony itself was broadcast live by the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission over shortwave radio, with facilities of the British Broadcasting Corporation transmitting the ceremony to Canada. Senior Canadian, British, and European officials, including French President Albert Lebrun, and a crowd of over 50,000 attended the event. Absent, though, was Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, it being well understood that he was generally not comfortable around veterans and felt it more appropriate for a war veteran in Cabinet to act as minister in attendance.