Permission has been granted by Entegrus and the County of Middlesex to attach powder-coated, laser-cut, metal display ‘banners’ to their utility poles along Frank and Metcalfe Street west. This is the route from the cenotaph, past the Legion Hall, to the Strathroy Cemetery.
Each Memorial Banner is approximately 24″ wide and 42″ tall. Each banner is different, but they have these common features: the Lions logo in a circle at the top, the words Strathroy and Caradoc to represent our community, a large circular area that has the crest/badge/emblem of each different battalion, the name of the battalion, and at the bottom, the name of the sponsor of the banner. All graphics are in full colours and made of the same durable material used for the images on road signs.
These pole-mounted metal ‘banners are placed on poles starting at the Strathroy Cemetery, continue along Metcalfe Street West toward and eventually past the Legion Hall and ending at the cenotaph on Frank Street.
The first banner, the entry banner recognizing the sacrifice of our veterans, was sponsored by the Strathroy-Caradoc Lions Club, but a previous CAO of the Municipality, who was subsequently terminated from the position, refused to allow it to be placed there. Therefore, it is still hidden in the parking lot of the Legion Hall.
[W.M.: “Politicians and Respect for Veterans do not always make a good fit.”]
Here is a street map with the route marked in blue.
Banners: Battalions & Veterans’ Names
[Double click an image to enlarge it, hit the return key < to come back to this page.]
World War II
Essex Regiment: Albert Arthur and Jack Lovell
1st Canadian Carrier “Kangaroo Corps”: Russell Gerry
24th Kent Regiment: Richard M. Hall
Perth Regiment: Robert Adair and Kenneth Adair (brothers)
RCAF 14th Squadron: Donald Thomson
RCAF 23rd Operational Training Unit: John McDonald
#88 Hong Kong Squadron: Charles Adair
RCAF 263rd Squadron: Allan Campbell
RCAF 401st “Ram” Squadron: William K. Ferguson
RCAF 427th Squadron: Donald Leitch
RCAF Heavy Conversion Unit #1656th: Lawrence Pike
Royal Canadian Engineers 7th Field: Charles W. Barker and Arden Payne
Royal Canadian Regiment 8th Army: Edmund Holliday
Royal Canadian Navy (HMCS Valleyfield): Leroy Swales
World War I
1st Canadian Infantry Battalion: Wilson Cuddy, Arthur Holderness, Frederick Jay, John Nunn, William O’Dell, Frederick Robinson
1st Depot Battalion: Thomas Norman, Joseph Payne
1st & 4th Battalions Canadian Machine Gun Corps: John Brown
2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion: George Wallace
3rd Battalion Canadian Infantry Troops (Toronto Regiment): Robert Davis
3rd Battalion Canadian Railway Troops: George Urquhart
4th Canadian Infantry Battalion: James McGeary
4th & 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles: William Gough, Alexander Newton, Ralph Newton, George Main
4th & 8th Canadian Military Engineers: James MacAuley
8th Field Company: Stormont McIntyre
9th Canadian Infantry Battalion: Ross Briscoe
14th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment): Cyril Lowe
15th Canadian Infantry Battalion (48th Highlanders of Canada): Walter Beer, James Kellestine, Thomas Milliken, Asa Patterson, Charles Perring
16th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Princess Mary’s Scottish): Arthur Lindsay
18th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Eastern Ontario): Reginald Buchanan, Ernest Leaden, Edward Moore, Harold Wiese
19th Canadian Infantry Battalion: Ernest Burtenshaw, Vernon Sullivan
29th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Vancouver): Andrew Small
47th Canadian Infantry Battalion (B.C.): Neil McLean, Charles Smithrim
50th Canadian Infantry Battalion: William Foxen (M.C.)
54th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Kootenay): Henry Pembleton
58th Canadian Infantry Battalion: Sidney Kemp
72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion (Seaforth Highlanders): Robert Brown
99th Overseas Battalion: Thomas Welch
101st Squadron Royal Air Force: William Cooper
135th Overseas Battalion: William Adair, James Armstrong, William Cowan, Howard James
Canadian Army Medical Corps: James Abbott
Canadian Cyclists Battalion: Charles Bennett
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry: Arnold Newbury
Royal Air Force: Edgar Sexton
Royal Canadian Dragoons: Eugene Reardon
Volunteer Aid Detachment: Alice Nettleton
I was in Strathroy Thursday 6 July and could not find the Royal Canadian Dragoons banner
Hi Thomas. I no longer live in Strathroy, I’m now in Baden, near Kitchener. According to my records the banner was to be mounted on pole #22362, which is on the SW corner of Ashby Crescent, near the cemetery. Hydro may have had some issues about that pole after they approved its use, and it may have been installed on another pole nearby. I have a buddy in Strathroy, checking to see if it’s in that location or has gone missing. Thanks for the heads as we’ll need to locate where it is.