Just one day before Canadians pause to remember those who fought for freedom, a new survey suggests our collective knowledge of Canadian military history is eroding.

The survey by the Dominion Institute found that only 42 per cent of Canadians received a passing grade on a simple test of First World War knowledge.

In a multiple choice quiz, only 33 per cent of those quizzed identified First World War commander Sir Arthur Currie and legendary flying ace Billy Bishop as Canadian military heroes from a list of only four. The other two names on the list belonged to U.S. Civil War leader Ulysses S. Grant and American Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

And one quarter of those surveyed picked MacArthur as a Canadian war hero.

Among young Canadians, the grades were even worse, with only three out of every 10 young Canadians passing a four-question quiz. The lowest grades came from Quebec's young people.

Along with those dismal results, the survey, which was conducted during the last week of October, revealed that Canadians are having a harder and harder time remembering the names of Canadian war heroes.

Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute said the results were upsetting.

"If you compare them with similar polls in the past, there is a decline in knowledge and a decline in Remembrance Day commitment," Griffiths told The Globe and Mail.

"This is a dangerous moment [for Remembrance Day], as we move from a society that still has living links to the experience of war to generations who no longer have that direct, living link."

The results underline the need to "redouble" efforts to ensure Canadians maintain a sense of history and the events that helped shape Canada, Griffiths said.

The results, which came one day before Remembrance Day which will be celebrated across Canada on Saturday, suggest numbers will be down at this year's ceremonies.

Only 41 per cent of those surveyed said they planned to attend a Remembrance Day service on Friday, a significant drop from 58 per cent in 2001 and 50 per cent last year.

But anecdotal evidence seems to suggest Canadians still respect Remembrance Day, despite the dwindling numbers of First and Second World War veterans.

Last year, more than 25,000 people attended the national ceremony in Ottawa, a steep increase from the roughly 7,000 people who typically attended during the 1990s.

More than 1,000 Canadians were surveyed. The results are considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

The survey was carried out by the Dominion Institute's Innovative Research Group.

With files from The Canadian Press