GREETINGS HIGHLANDERS – SERVING SOLDIERS, FORMER SERVING MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF OUR EXTENDED REGIMENTAL FAMILY,
This blog serves as a reminder to mark your calendars and to share upcoming activities with you. There is a lot happening in November! Please see below:
4 Nov: Mount Pleasant Cemetery
As Sgt. (Ret’d) Bowie reminds us on social media, the annual ceremony at the Mount Pleasant (east side) monument will be held on 4 Nov this year. It has been moved earlier due to the special event being held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of our Queen’s Park Monument on 11 November.
11 Nov: Remembrance Day: Centenary of the 48th Highlanders Regimental Memorial and Reception (Queen’s Park and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
As BGen (Ret’d) Young has announced on social media, Remembrance Day 2023 is the Centenary of the 48th Highlanders of Canada Regimental Memorial at Queen’s Park. The Memorial was unveiled one hundred years ago on Armistice Day in 1923 and it is dedicated to the memory of all members of The Regiment who served, (especially our fallen) during the Great War 1914-1918. This year, the Regiment’s Annual Remembrance Day Parade will take place there on 11 Nov at 11:00 hrs. This Remembrance Service will commemorate the 1923 dedication. Arrival is suggested at 10:30 hrs due to construction in the area. The Active Battalion will conduct its post-service March Past, but will not parade back to MPA. Following the Service and March Past, the Regimental Association is hosting a reception at the ROM for all members of the Active Battalion, former serving members, veterans and members of the Regimental Association and Family. Please plan to attend in the Philosophers Gallery of the ROM. There will be refreshments, food and a cash bar. Attendees can also tour the ROM afterwards at no cost. Please consider taking public transit as parking will be scarce as many Regiments will be parading on 11 Nov.
7-13 Nov: Morning Glory Tour (80th Anniversary of the Italian campaign) and Moro River Remembrance Day Ceremony
As a result of the generosity of the HCOL, a Regimental Group of twelve soldiers will be travelling to Italy for a tour of Canadian VC sites (River Savio, River Melfa, River Moro) to honour our WWII soldiers. This Morning Glory tour is named after the Operation which contributed to our Ortona Battle Honour. Angela Arnone is running the tour and the Gregg Centre will be providing support. HCOL (Ret’d) Beal is briefing the soldiers who will be attending. Former 48th Honorary/current Canadian Rangers HCOL John Newman and I will be on this tour along with members of the Chippewas of Nawasg community who are family members of 2 Ojibway Veterans.
Finally, to put it on your radar, the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland is approaching. It will be May 2025. Planning has begun. There is much to do in advance. For those in the Regimental Family who are in a position to donate, there will be a fundraiser to assist with sending soldiers overseas.
On behalf of the Regimental Senate, we look forward to engaging with our community at upcoming events. Please make your plans to join us!
Stay strong. Stay connected.
Dileas Gu Brath
Sasha Darling
HLCol
