In their debt

About the picture: “Love the blog,” writes Pete in Toronto. “Thought I’d share a rare photograph from 1936, since it does feature a cute dog – no doubt the regiment’s mascot at the time. These are the officers of the Toronto Regiment. Several are First World War veterans, and the rest almost certainly served in the Second World War. Sadly the regiment was soon to be amalgamated with another Toronto unit due to lack of personnel and budget cuts. Lest we forget.”

From Garth: The soldier holding the regimental mascot (whose name has been lost to time) is Lieut. Andrew Duncanson.  We know this about the battalion… It sailed for England from Quebec City on the SS Tunisian on 25 September 1914, arriving in England on 16 October with a strength of 42 officers and 1,123 men.

The battalion became part of the 1st Canadian Division, fighting the foe at Ypres, Vimy Ridge and along the Western Front. In the attack on Vimy Ridge, the battalion was covered by very successful artillery barrages but still lost around 150 killed or wounded. Over 280 soldiers  were taken prisoner during the war – all but 21 during the 2nd Battle of Ypres during April and May 1915.

The battalion returned to Canada from England on the SS Olympic arriving in Halifax on 21 April 1919, then in Toronto by train and demobilizing in the afternoon of 23 April 1919. Only 40 of the original contingent from 1914 arrived back at the end of the war although others had been demobilized or taken prisoners of war.

The Canadian Militia was reorganized after the Great War and in 1936 the Regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Grenadiers to form the Royal Regiment of Toronto Grenadiers which subsequently became the known as The Royal Regiment of Canada, 11 February 1939. This is the photograph taken to mark that event, presumably portraying some of those forty who survived the battlefield horrors of earlier years.

Lest we forget.